Fifteen Days For Us to Say
by BlackStellar
Summary: Fifteen days before his graduation, Natsu met his best friend's stalker. Fifteen days before the school ends, Juvia has to muster her courage to confess. School AU NxJ
1. Rain

_Finally I decided to publish this story. This will be my New Year's gift for those NaVia shippers there and my first NaVia story too. I know lots of people dislike this fandom but I don't really care about them anyway. I'll be expecting loves and hates here but don't expect me to welcome with open arms those trashy flames. I can accept professional critics but not some shitty illiterate insults. Anyway, please enjoy reading fellas._

 **Disclaimer** : I don't own Fairy Tail

* * *

 ** _Chapter 1_**

It was a rainy Friday afternoon when he saw her drenching herself on the cold rain. He had no idea what got into her brain when she stood straightly on the sidewalk while people looked at her as if she had gone crazy. Natsu never bothered about people but looking at that girl always bothered him. So the next thing he did made him surprise as he hurriedly crossed the street. He pushed some people who are on his way as he dashed towards the girl and grabbed her arm then ran again to find some dry place to dwell in. He could hear her squeak and protest but he chose to ignore it. When they arrived on a café, they situated themselves on a small veranda and Natsu finally released his grip on her. Looking at this girl gave him a complex feeling of annoyance, anger and…pity. She was not his friend; just a classmate and he didn't know her well. So he never bothered to talk to her but almost every day she was annoying him. At this moment where the rain still continued to pour down and thunder began to sound, he had to express those words that he had kept to her for a long time.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!"

His yell was paired with a loud clap of thunder, making everyone in the area gasp and jolt. It was only the girl in front of him who remained frozen and just stared at him in shock. She looked more surprise at his yell than the thunder. Natsu watched the girl blinked then took off her glasses as she wiped it with her wet handkerchief. She put it on afterwards then looked at him.

"W-why did you grab Juvia?"

He could see her lips quivered slightly as she tried to focus her stare on him.

"I grabbed you…" He intake a sharp breath then gave her a glare. "Because you're fucking annoying me. A lot."

A look of surprise crossed on her face then it quickly vanished and replaced by anger.

"If you're annoyed with Juvia then ignore her." The bluehaired girl spat as the thunder roared again, making her finally jolted in surprise. Hugging herself, she turned away. "You can leave Juvia now."

Sighing in exasperation, Natsu took out his scarf on his bag then discourteously wrapped it around her neck. Juvia turned around and sent him a glare but despite of it, she didn't take off his scarf. The two of them remained standing as they watched the water from the sky heavily dropped on the ground.

"Why are you drenching yourself on the rain?"

Juvia glanced at Natsu from the corner on her eye, kind of surprise at his sudden question and heavily sighed. "It's none of your business."

He could feel a vein popped on his head at her impertinence as he clenched his jaw. "Look. This is the first time we have ever talked and we'll graduate after two weeks. Can we at least have some nice convo before we go separate ways?"

She sneezed in reply as his eyes twitched in annoyance. "Okayyy. So what's your favorite color?"

"Why do you care?"

"What food do you like?"

"You're annoying Juvia."

"So you like horror movies?"

"Stop it."

"Why do you like Gray so much?"

Silent ensued as Juvia shut her mouth and Natsu triumphantly smirked at her. He had hit a spot. He only knew this girl for two things: She likes Gray, his best friend, and she is Gray's stalker. His elder brother told him before that stalking is a bad habit and unhealthy for a person so Natsu had entrenched a bad perception of stalking in his mind. When he met Juvia for the first time, it was when he was in second year and he and his best friend once entered a video game store. Few seconds later the girl followed. He thought it was just a coincidence until several meetings with her became suspicious. And his suspicion was right when he caught her waiting and hiding outside of the basketball gym. Natsu knew that Gray was oblivious about this because if he did, the latter would have confronted her already. This girl was just too stealthy at her moves but it was never gone unnoticed by Natsu.

"Why is Natsu asking about this? You never talk to Juvia. So why do you care about this?" she countered, finally facing him with defiance and anger visible in her eyes.

Her questions mentally punched him as he searched for the right answer. Come to think of it, why does he care about this? About _her_? She was just an ordinary glasses girl with good grades and plain looks. She was too ordinary that she had few friends from other class but preferred to be by herself more in their class. But despite of being ordinary, she had an obsession of his best friend who never noticed her. So why does she annoy him so much whenever he looks at her?

"Maybe because you look sad."

Natsu stated, thinking aloud. Juvia arched her brow in surprise as her mouth opened for a moment then closed it when she looked down."Juvia isn't sad. And it doesn't matter to you at all so don't bother."

Natsu could feel his anger boiling inside of him. She was being hard and he was controlling his patience. He was always impatient and hot-tempered but for the sake of not hurting girls because hurting girls is not cool according to his brother, he had to remain calm.

"Can you fucking stop lying to me! It matters to me because I don't like it. I hate seeing you making dejected faces everyday. I hate seeing you acting indifferent as if you didn't care about others but deep inside you really want others to care about you. I mean what the fuck! You're sitting at my front and every time you turn around; I always sense that depressed aura of yours! It's kinda killer mood! And you said that you're not sad?! I'll tell you this you rainwoman, if you learn to smile always Gray will surely notice you. And here comes that bastard. It's kinda frustrating seeing you stalking him almost everyday yet you can't even say hello to him. We have fifteen days left before graduation; make yourself known to him dammit!"

Natsu panted after his long soliloquy and mentally berated himself for not containing his calmness. He watched Juvia widened her eyes in genuine shock at his assertion then slowly averted his gaze as she gripped the hem of his scarf tighter with her hands.

"You don't know Juvia." She hissed.

"I know you. Maybe a little." Natsu interjected as he suddenly opened his bag and rummaged on it. Juvia watched him curiously as he took out a royal blue notebook, making her eyes widened in horror.

"Where did you get that?!" She quickly grabbed it away from him as Natsu crossed his arms. He watched her hugging her diary on her chest, her head down and her wet blue locks cascaded her face. "Did you read it?"

Regardless of the noise of the rain, he could still hear her words. He sighed at her question and roamed his eyes on the street.

"Aside from Gray, you like ice creams and yogurts. Your favorite flavor is peppermint. You like romantic and horror movies and rock music and guess what, we have the same favorite band." He turned to her and smile but his smile was met with a smash of her diary. Groaning in pain, he put his hands on his face. "Geez what the fuck!"

"You invaded Juvia's privacy! I hate you!" she yelled in anger.

Eyes squinting and face scrunching in pain, he faced her. "I was only reading the first page since it's just like a mini info about you and I was curious but I hadn't read the others." He winced again as he touched his nose and gently caressed it.

"Sorry if Juvia hurt you."Juvia apologized at what she recklessly did. "But still you're such an ass."

"I know. That's why I read the part where you wanted to be friends with the other girls in the class but you're too shy to approach and hang out with them." And then another smash of her diary followed but this time, it aimed on his shoulder. "Oww! Hey! Hey! Just because you're a girl doesn't mean I can't get mad at you!"

"You have no right to get mad because what you did was awful and disgusting!"

"If I didn't do it, until now I might still find you annoying and weird. And I might never understand you."

That caught her off-guard as she stood frozen and just gaped at him. He grinned and snickered. "And you're just a typical shy girl than I expected."

The rain finally stopped as some customers on the café came out, probably waiting for the rain to stop so they could go home. Natsu and Juvia remained on their spot.

"Until now, Juvia doesn't understand why Natsu is with her right now." Juvia said as she readjusted her glasses.

"Oh damn, you're an honor student yet you're slow at things." He quipped, earning a glare from her. "Of course I wanna talk and vent my frustrations about you that's why I did that. And now I finally did it, I also wanna be friends with you before we graduate."

She just gave him a blank expression and sighed. "Juvia's gonna go now." She started to walk, leaving him.

"Hey wait!" He held her arm, making her turn to him.

"Will you come tomorrow at Gajeel's? We're gonna have a barbecue party and our class will be there. What about you?"

She looked away and pondered for a second. "No. Juvia's not into that."

"Oh come on! It's your time to talk with the other girls. It's never too late to be friendly so drop that cold character of yours." Her glare was very lethal, making him want to abort his invitation for a second until an idea popped on his mind. "By the way, Gray will come there." He let go of his grip with a victory smirk and saw her cheeks turned into rosy pink at the mention of his crush.

"Juvia will think about it tonight." She flatly said then started to walk away.

"Hey! I got your number from your diary! I'll call ya tomorrow." He said with a cheeky smile.

She didn't reply but just shot him a furious glare before she strode off. His eye twitched and he grunted. He talked to her. He finally expressed his thoughts about her and he was relieved by that. Natsu wondered if her presence would bother him if they would see each other again in class. Sighing in satisfaction, he decided to leave and go home. He better rest for tomorrow he would party hard.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 **A/N**

 _I made this to Rated T just to be safe since there will be swearing. This will be a multi-chapter story so expect another chapter next year (since it's gonna be a New Year next month). Advance Happy New Year everyone! __


	2. Emoticons

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fairy Tail `cause I'm broke.

* * *

 _ **Chapter 2**_

Natsu would party hard.

On his bed.

Natsu was swearing all the time for the worst timing of his life as Zeref tended him but to the latter's annoyance of his stubborn whiny little brother, he plunged the wet towel on the pinkette's mouth to make him shut up. How unfortunate for Natsu to catch a fever at this particular day. It rained again yesterday when he decided to go home while walking and poor him, he got stuck up on the waiting shed, shivering in coldness. Zeref reprimanded him when he arrived late in the house, soaking wet but Natsu was too cold and tired to listen at his brother's rants and decided to sleep without eating dinner. He was so tired and at this moment, his body was not in the mood for some barbecue party. Since his brother has a job, he had to leave Natsu all alone in the house. Food and medicine were already set on the table and all Natsu had to do was to move his ass on the kitchen to make himself better. To make his life convenient, he decided to bring his futon and blanket on the living room so it would be easier for him to walk towards the kitchen and attack the food.

Wrapping his body with a blanket, Natsu rolled on the side and felt a twinge of pain in his head.

"Fuck this headache." He grunted as he scratched his head and placed his cold hands under his armpits, feeling his underarm hairs and sighing at the warmness it gave to his hands. But he was still cold.

He then looked at the electric fan which his brother forgot to turn off, and groaned. He was too tired or maybe lazy to stand up and turn it off so he just glared at that thing and suffered at the chilliness. Suddenly, a beep from his phone sounded and in a flash, he sat up and took the phone that was on the sofa near him. Natsu was expecting Lisanna's message so he quickly typed the password on his phone and checked the message that popped up on the screen. But his eyes widened in surprise when he saw an unexpected person unexpectedly sent "Good morning" on him. He then fought back a giddy grin but miserably failed.

 _Natsu: Yo Juvia. Thought u will still ignore me. Miss me alrdy? ;)_

Natsu was glad he texted her right after she left but she never replied. He had also thought that she would completely ignore him after what happened yesterday. He still found it weird and funny knowing that he befriended her fifteen days before their graduation though it's better this way. At least he had settled his issues on her. He then snapped out of his trance when she replied immediately.

 _Juvia: Why would Juvia miss you. -_- Anyways, Juvia has a question._

 _She still speaks in third person even here_ , Natsu thought in amusement. Despite of the sharp radiation of the phone to his eyes, Natsu still replied.

 _Natsu: What is it?_

.

.

 _Juvia: Where's Gajeel's house? Please help or Juvia will get lost. ToT_

Natsu laughed then coughed vehemently as he tried to calm himself down, taking the glass of water on the table and drank it. He subsequently returned his attention back to his phone. _So she wanted to go there huh. Too bad, I won't see her_. He stopped for a moment at what he just thought and shook his head.

 _Natsu: I knw u knw Gray's location. So frm his house u walk straight thn turn 2 the right. Walk straight again thn the last house will b Gajeel's. Got it?_

 _._

 _Juvia: Yeah copy. Thank you and see you later. Y(^_^)Y_

It took few minutes for Natsu to reply. Knowing her expecting him to go but he couldn't, it made him upset at his condition even more.

 _Natsu: Cant go. Me is sick._

He placed his phone beside his pillow as he lay down on his futon, wrapping himself again with blanket. He quickly picked his phone when another message from Juvia appeared.

 _Juvia: Juvia won't go then._

His eyes grew wide as his brows furrowed when he began to type for a reply.

 _Natsu: Why not? U cant miss it. Gray will go there so as our classmates. Its ur time 2 hang out w/ them._

.

 _Juvia: But Juvia doesn't have friends in the class.._

 _._

 _._

 _Juvia: And you're not there._

Natsu didn't know how to react with her message. All he knew was that he felt something warm forming inside of him. Perhaps it's because of his fever causing his body temperature to raise more. And he chose to believe that. He was kind of happy that she considers him as a friend. Part of him found her funny for being so different in chat. She seemed rather kind in the messages. And another part of him found her cute with her use of emoticons.

 _Wait. What am I thinking?_ He placed his palm on his forehead, releasing a sigh as he began to type his reply.

 _Natsu: I knew it. U miss me alrdy :P Sorry but I hv 2 take a rest. But u shud go bec its important 2 u not 2 miss it. And also 4 my sake. :)_

It took his new friend longer to reply while Natsu just stared at the phone, feeling woozy at staring at the screen.

 _Juvia: Ok. Juvia will go. Please tc and hope you get well soon. ^_^_

 _Natsu: Thanks. :D_

Natsu was grinning like an idiot when he put down his phone. His stomach began complaining and demanding him to eat so he carefully stood up and groggily walked towards the kitchen. Natsu could see his brother's concern and…love when he saw a pot neatly placed on the center table with a bowl and spoon beside it and a yellow sticky note stuck on the pot's handle. "Eat well and drink the medicine." with a poor drawing of a dog sticking its tongue out. He read the note then saw a medicine capsule on the bowl. Grinning, he opened the pot and the scent of porridge emanated from the container. Dragging a chair, he sat on it as he started filling his bowl with the porridge.

* * *

Natsu opened his eyes and groaned as he rolled his body to the left. After taking his lunch, he decided to watch TV but didn't expect to fall asleep in the middle of watching a sitcom. Blinking his eyes, he rubbed it then grabbed his phone near him, opened and checked the messages. Some were from his brother and most were from Juvia. He opened Juvia's messages first and began reading it.

 _Juvia: Hi. You still there? 2:45pm_

 _Juvia: It's awkward here. (-.-) Juvia was just sitting in the corner and watching our classmates. 3:00pm_

Natsu's eyes twitched.

 _Juvia: Juvia's eating barbecue now. It's tasty. Never thought Gajeel cook this. ~^o^~ 3:15pm_

 _Juvia: Juvia talked with Levy awhile ago. She's so friendly and we have many mutual interests. ^_^ She told me you're her childhood friend. Juvia also talked with the other girls. They are so nice to Juvia. Thank you for convincing Juvia to come. 4:33 pm_

Natsu furrowed his brow and covered his mouth with his left hand.

 _Juvia: JUVIA FINALLY SAID HI TO GRAY! OMIGOSH THIS IS AMAZING! JUVIA CAN DIE NOW! \\(^o^)/ \\(^o^)/\\(^o^)/ 4:47pm_

Natsu burst out laughing followed by some coughing as he read her last message. He couldn't believe that this stoic four-eyed girl, who was his classmate, texted him as if he's a diary and brought some reactions that he didn't quite anticipate from her. It was already 5:30 in the afternoon when she suddenly texted, making him snickers even more.

 _Juvia: Hey. Juvia thinks you've read her messages. Are you okay now? ^_^_

 _Natsu: Kinda. U hv no idea what ur messages did 2 me xD_

 _Juvia: Did Juvia offend you? O_o O_o O_o_

 _Natsu: No. The opposite actually lol xD Never thought u stl talk in 3rd person and use cute emojis in txts. I did not xpct that._

 _Juvia: Now you offend Juvia. At least she talks properly here with no spelling errors. Kidding hihi.~ ^.^~v_

Natsu twitched his mouth at her pointing out the way he texts. If not for her cute _"hihi"_ and emoticon, he would be offended.

 _Natsu: Hey evrybdys doing ths and its fun. U shud try ths but on the 2nd thought, nvm. Ur emojis beat the trend. xD_

 _Juvia: Is there something wrong with Juvia's emojis huh? (-_-) (-_-)_

 _._

 _._

 _Juvia: Juvia have some fruit juice that can help you get well._

A grin broke from his lips as he typed for a reply.

 _Natsu: Reallyyy? I badly need it. Can u visit and nurse me w/ that juice 4 awhile? JK xD_

 _Juvia: You're so gross. -_- Anyway, Juvia's on her way there._

His brow quirked at her message as his eyes stared at the screen even more. He had one particular idea on where she was going but he still needed a confirmation. And he wished that he was wrong.

 _Natsu: On ur way 2 where?_

 _Juvia: Your house. ^_^_

His eyes bulged out and he kept on rereading her latest message to see if it's real.

 _Natsu: Ur fucking kidding me._

 _Juvia: Stop swearing. Juvia is not kidding. Almost there._

Natsu was about to type back when he heard the sound of the doorbell of his house. He had never run so fast in his life just to open the front door of his house. When he finally emerged outside, he saw the bluehaired girl with a placid look standing outside the gate of his house. Blinking his eyes, he couldn't unsee the sight of her so he remained on his spot as he stared at her, looking astonished. And she was now glaring at him when she took out her phone. His phone beeped and he immediately opened it to see the message.

 _Juvia: Are you just gonna stand there?_

 _She's real_ , he thought as he began striding over there to open the gate. There she stood with her cute casual navy blue dress and a cerulean cardigan. She let her hair down and still glasses on as she looked at him and cheeks began turning to pink. What made her do that? He looked at his pajama shirt with a huge cartoon print on the center. Unabashed at his attire, his eyes squinted as he looked at her.

"What? You got a problem with Spongebob?"

They locked their eyes for a moment until she broke it and started giggling.

"No. It's just…cute." She said with a soft smile, making him feel jelly all of a sudden. Suddenly aware of what she had done, Juvia blushed and instantly cleared her throat, switching herself back to her usual stoic look. "Anyway, here's the fruit juice. Juvia and Levy made this awhile ago after Juvia told them that you're sick. You should put it on the fridge and drink it after eating food."

She handed him a cellophane bag with a container inside. He took it, shooting her a sceptical look. "Thanks. This could really help me. Anyway, how did you find out about my house? You asked Levy?"

"No…" Juvia avoided his look as she began twirling her locks and soon, a blush crept on her cheeks. "Gray took me here. He just left as soon as he got here. He said he doesn't want to get caught by your fever but he also added that you should get well sooner."

His brow raised and looked at her in amusement. "How sweet of him. Good for you, you got a special moment with that bastard." He caught her glare as he said the last part. "Anyway, I'm really thankful with this Juv. Sorry to make you do this hassle."

"No, Juvia is fine. Plus it's also Juvia's fault why you got sick. You got drenched on the rain because of me." She said with a saddened look.

"It's not really your fault. I was skipping lunch and dinner these past few days and the rain just pulled the trigger that's why I got sick so don't blame yourself." He said, giving her a reassuring smile.

"Oh. Juvia almost forgot this." Natsu watched as she took something out from her bag. His brows raised as his scarf was on her hands and she suddenly wrapped it gently—unlike what he did yesterday—around his neck. He was caught in surprise and he was sure that his mouth was slightly open as he stared at her.

"There. Juvia had to go now. Hope you get well."

She gently patted his head and smiled before she began striding away from his house, leaving him standing on the threshold looking dumbfounded. He couldn't comprehend what just happened between him and the girl. She was just a weird girl to him before and now, she seemed more different. Grinning, he looked at the container and opened it. He brought it to his lips as he began imbibing the fruit juice. He stopped as soon as he had enough of it then felt the various taste of the juice on his tongue which reminded him of the certain blue-haired girl who just came here to visit him.

Different and sweet.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 **A/N**

 _To all of those guests who reviewed my work especially Anne and Waffels, and also StingxJuvia (I'm kind of surprise that you read my NaVia fic lol xD), super thank you cause you really made me happy! :D_


	3. Rare

_Yo guys! ^_^ I really did appreciate your reviews and most of you enjoy the cuteness vibes of the previous chapter. Me is so happy :D I hope you'll enjoy this chapter as well and I also inserted a song here from Against The Current for a reason-that you'll find out later - and I prefer you to listen at it because it's super nice. Okay enough with this, enjoy reading!_

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Fairy Tail and so as the song that is used here.

* * *

 _ **Chapter 3**_

Despite of arriving exaggeratedly early in school, Natsu was surprised seeing someone already inside the classroom. And that happened to be Juvia who was sitting on her chair while writing something on a sky blue paper. Juvia noticed his presence and she abruptly discontinued what she was doing which made the pinkette quirked his brow in curiosity as she was holding a scissor and a sky blue construction paper.

"Yo!" He greeted, approaching her. "Whatcha doin?"

"N-nothing." She flustered as she began placing her materials inside her bag. Natsu raised his brow again as he caught a glimpse of hearts and candy designs but decided to ignore it then sat on his chair. Silence ensued between them and it was an awkward one.

Trying to break the uneasiness, he uttered. "You're so early today."

Juvia deadpanned and he mentally slapped himself for remarking something so trivial.

"Juvia is always early. It's _you_ who is so early." she stated as she twirled her blue locks and brushed it behind her ear. "Are you okay now?"

"I'm fine. Thanks for the juice. It really helped me." He flashed a grin; somehow felt a relief as the ice between them slowly melting. He was seated behind her so he rested his arms on his desk and leaned closer to her. "So how was the barbecue party? Seemed like you had a good time when I read your messages."

She shifted her position to face him, subconsciously twirling her locks. "It went well. Juvia didn't actually expect it. Levy was surprisingly nice and Gajeel was still annoying."

"Levy is always nice if only you talk to her before."

"Well Juvia always thought Levy as a rival. Aside that the two of us are bluehaired, we're both competitive in academics but.." She readjusted her glasses. "Juvia always won in that aspect. However, Juvia always lost when it comes to interpersonal aspects against her. Unlike Levy, Juvia is not good at…dealing people."

Natsu stared up at her for a moment. It's true that she's quite competitive in school works and heck, it even ticked him off whenever she handed his test paper and sneered at him for his failing marks. And it's true that she's not good at dealing people since he found out that she's too shy to interact. But regardless of her usual impassiveness, he could see a tint of melancholy on her eyes when she said that as if she had thought of the regrets on her life. It made him wonder if she enjoyed her life as a student. Natsu didn't know her well— aside that she's his best friend's stalker—since the two of them became classmates in their last year of high school. If it wasn't for Gray, he would never notice her. And speaking of that devil.

"By the way." He let out a cheeky grin. "Bet you had fun spending time with Gray as you went to my home."

He caught her cheeks turning into a pinkish color as she sputtered for answer and readjusted her glasses. "W-well it-it wasn't something special! G-Gray was being thoughtful that time!"

"Yeah yeah." Grinning wickedly, he rested his cheek on his palm. " For sure you were squealing inside that time. But you did finally talk to him huh."

His grin dropped when her face suddenly deflated and turned into a gloomy one. "Ah. Let me guess…You didn't talk to him."

"It's not like that." She heaved a sigh. "Juvia was so nervous that time when the two of them started to walk. Juvia could feel the awkwardness of the atmosphere. Then…then Juvia suddenly sputtered some weird questions."

"Like what?"

"Like..Ugh. It's so embarrassing!" She covered her face with her hands, making him even more intrigue.

"Oh come on. You can't just leave me hanging here. Spit it out!"

She placed her hands down then reluctantly looked at him for a moment, avoiding his eye contact. "Well, Juvia asked if what is his favorite number…" He nodded slowly, prompted her to continue as she gulped and spoke. "…on the remote control."

His eyes blinked a few times before it bulged out and as he finally realized what she had said, he started to guffaw.

"Juvia also asked if—Dammit! Stop laughing!"

"I can't!" He said between his laugh. "What else!"

"Juvia won't say it anymore! It's embarrassing and Juvia doesn't want to be laughed at!" She yelled, crossing her arms and her face turning reddish out of anger and embarrassment.

"Geez." Natsu panted, recovering from his laughing session. "But seriously. Favorite number on the remote control?"

Juvia kicked his leg under his desk but to her dismay, she missed it, earning a triumphant smirk from the pinkette. Natsu snickered, crossing his arms. "Makes me curious how that Fullbastard reacted."

She glared for a second at what Natsu just called her crush then blew out a sigh."Of course he was surprised and Juvia knew he found her really weird at that time. But thank God, Gray managed to stop Juvia on uttering some weird things." A soft smile broke out from her lips as if remembering the few moments she had with Gray. "He then asked me some basic questions about me. Juvia was glad that he left right away or else he would catch her fainting on the road. Juvia almost died at that moment…Out of embarrassment and happiness."

Her fast transition from her getting annoyed by him to her smiling at her reverie never failed to amuse Natsu. It's not an everyday happening seeing her smile. And mostly, it was Gray bringing out her unusual smile.

"Hmm. Just curious. Why do you like Gray so much?"

Before she could answer, the door of their classroom slammed open and two male classmates went inside while bickering. Another group of students followed and Natsu spotted a bluehaired petite girl walking towards them with a smile on her face and a wave on her hand.

"Juvia!—And oh! Hey Natsu! Are you well now?" Levy beamed as she took something out of her bag. It was a novel and somehow he assumed it a romance novel judging by its cheesy cover.

"I'm fine now. Too bad I missed the party." He grumbled.

"It was really unexpected but I'm glad you're fine now." Levy said then turned to Juvia. "Hey, I brought the book that you wanted to borrow." With a genuine smile, she handed her book to her fellow bluenette.

Natsu smirked when Juvia's face once again flushed.

"T-thanks! Juvia really wanted to read this!" Clutching the book on her arms, she looked away, still failed to conceal her blushing face.

"No problem! I never thought we like the same author. Anyway, wanna go to a near book café tomorrow? I heard there are lots of new arrival books coming." Levy flashed a smile of excitement with an expectant look. "We can check it out, drink some frap and read!"

Juvia looked up and gaped at her momentarily. Blinking her eyes, she fervently nodded her head. "Yes! Juvia's coming!"

"That's great!" Levy giggled and stopped when their class rep called her. "I gotta go for awhile. We can talk later if you want."

As soon as Levy walked away from them, Natsu snickered causing Juvia to glance at him and frowned.

"It's cute seeing you shy Juv." He remarked and without warning, she moved her leg to kick his knee. And luckily this time, it didn't miss. "Oww! Shit! Why so violent?!"

He caught her smiling in triumph as she turned her back on him. _Looks like she can smile at small things too._

* * *

Natsu had always liked surprises especially when he passed the entrance exam of his preferred university which everyone thought that he would fail, and he couldn't help to rejoice in happiness that time. He was extremely happy that he wanted to smash the result to his brother's face since Zeref had underestimated his intellectual capacity. But today's surprise was not the kind of surprise that he wanted right now.

"What are you doing here?" Gray—his best friend and companion at this moment where both of them are eating ramen because they don't have classes anymore—asked looking aghast at the unexpected arrival of a redhead woman in front of them.

"Why? Am I not allowed to come back here?"

The woman raised her brow menacingly, daring him to talk back and at the same time threatening him to death. It was none other than Erza Scarlet, their childhood friend and former schoolmate who is back at their school and for unknown reason; she was now in the canteen looking at them.

Gray just flinched, looking anxious all of a sudden. "I didn't say that. I was just asking." He muttered and returned his attention to his ramen.

"That's why sometimes you have to shut the fuck up, Gray." Natsu interjected and finished his two bowls of ramen while the raven-haired glared at him.

"Talk to yourself, pinky bastard. I don't need your shitty lectures." Gray spat.

"You talk to yourself and eat shit you ice princess." Natsu snarled and slammed his chopsticks on the table, shooting him a glare. Their glaring and talkshit battle began, ignoring Erza who was getting annoyed at their raucous bicker.

"Some things never change huh. But it still pissed me off when I see your stupid faces clashing at each other." The two boys instantly stopped once they heard her knuckles cracking and slowly turned their head to the visitor who was scowling at them. "I didn't come here just to be ignored by you imbeciles."

"We're not ignoring you actually." Gray said with an uncertain chuckle and exchanged look with Natsu.

"What do you want from us anyway?" Natsu peered at her, trying to discern her motives. _What the fuck is she doing here? I thought she's on vacation. Did she hear from someone that we lost her DVD? Did she figure out that we used her photos in luring some gamers to join our party? Or maybe she came here to kill us. Cause it is not fucking usual to see this redhead in our school especially in the canteen at this hour!_

Swallowing his fear, he glanced at Gray who was scratching his head and looking uneasy. _If ever Erza finds out, I will just blame Gray for everything. Anyway, he's the one who send those photos. Sorry bro, I'll just treat you some ice cream after you got beaten._

As if he read Natsu's thoughts, Gray glared at him, sending him a message: _"Do that you motherfucker or I'll tell her that you were making memes out of her pictures."_

Then their silent glaring competition began.

"I just dropped by to say Hi."

In a flash, the two guys whipped their head to Erza who was grinning and crossing her arms. "And also to congratulate you two for passing our university. That just mean that I'm gonna see you again in college."

Gray and Natsu gawked at her for a minute before a nervous chuckle came out from their mouth and few seconds later, they started to laugh.

"Yeah! We're going to see you often there!" Natsu grinned. Damn, thought I was a goner.

"Did you just come here to say Hi to us?" Natsu snapped his head to Gray and instantly shoot him a sharp look as if telling him: _"The fuck dude do you want her to kill us?!"_

" Are we that special to you Erza? Or maybe you came here for someone." Gray smirked, making Natsu caught on something.

 _Oh._ Then a sly grin spread on his thin lips.

In a cool manner, she responded. "I need some documents from my former school and I had some business with Jellal."

"Oh. You mean Jellal- _sensei._ " Natsu smirked impishly while Gray chuckled. "Just because you're not a high school student anymore doesn't mean you can call Jellal's name informally."

A smash on his head resulted from his taunt. It was painful and shocking for him since it has been a long time that Erza hit his head. What a comeback.

"I don't want to hear that from you, you pinky punk." Erza lethally said.

"I was just kidding hehe." Natsu laughed nervously, massaging his aching head with his hand. "You don't have to hit me. You know that's violence against men."

Gray just watched the two of them in trepidation at getting punched by a woman and in pity at Natsu's state. He then decided to continue eating his now cold ramen.

Erza glanced at her watch before turning to the boys. "You're free now right? I also came here to tell you that I'm gonna treat you and your friends later. It's been a long time that we hang out."

Natsu's eyes bulged out while Gray almost choked out his food. "You serious?"

"Yeah. Just call this as my celebration for your upcoming graduation." Erza genuinely smiled, her feminine and beautiful features shined making them forgot how scary she is. "Call your friends and let's go once I'm done with Jellal- _sensei._ " She mockingly said the last part then started to walk away, finally leaving them.

"Can't believe she's treating us. Bet she wants something from us in return." Gray said with a sceptical look.

But Natsu was thinking about her offer and at the same time about a certain friend.

* * *

"Everybody hands up! Yeah! Yeah!"

It was getting rowdy on their cubicle as Erza sang out of tune paired with laughters and howls from her underclassmen. The disco lights made the room livelier while Laki and Kinana stood up to dance as Erza's back-up. Even Jet joined in causing more laughters from Gajeel, Gray and Natsu since he was just doing a hilarious booty shaking. His best pal, Droy, just did a face palm and put his attention to the foods on the table. After their class, Natsu called his friends to join him with Erza's treat and they all agreed and decided to have a karaoke since it's been a long time they had done it. Natsu regained his composure after guffawing at Jet's comical ballet moves and glanced at the girl beside him who remained silent for the whole period while sipping a strawberry shake.

"Yo Juv. You gotta sing for me." He said decisively as he placed the song book on her lap, causing her to jolt slightly in surprise. She turned at him frantically, placing her shake on the table.

"No! Juvia is okay on just listening at all of you." Juvia said, looking anxious.

"No way Juvia. I brought you here `cause I want you to sing." He leaned his mouth closer to her ear and whispered. "Time to shine for Gray."

She forcibly pushed his face away with her palm and adamantly refused. "No. Juvia won't. Juvia doesn't have a nice voice."

"Hey don't worry Juvia. Everybody here doesn't have a nice voice. Especially the one who's singing right now." Gray said with a reassuring grin, causing the bluenette to blush.

"I heard that Gray you bastard! What do you mean by that huh?! Wanna die?!" Erza said aloud on the microphone, piercing the eardrums of the occupants and making Gray gasped in horror. Erza would not let the chance of strangling him slip away so as she did it, Jet and Droy were stopping her while Levy continued her song.

"Ignore them. I can sing well and you'll gonna help me sing with this." He picked up the remote control and began to punch the number of the song that he chose.

"Juvia's not gonna sing!"

"Yo Levy. Gimme that mic since the song is done."

"Hey Natsu. I'm next!"

"You're next to me Laki. Sorry I pressed the first reserve button." Natsu snickered.

"Hey that's sneaky!"

Juvia looked so mortified and at the same time enraged at the pinkette's stubbornness. But she couldn't let herself lose her composure. Not in front of his friends and especially not in front of Gray.

"Here's the mic." Juvia sprang her head to Gray when he handed her the second microphone with a grin. "Looking forward to see you singing with Natsu."

Natsu snorted when he saw Juvia got tongue-tied, unable to respond. Well, how could she reply properly when the person she was going to talk to was now shirtless and so beat up?

"Hey it's our song now!" He suddenly grabbed her arm for her to get up from the sofa and she stood up shakily, still not used at everyone's eyes on her. His classmates began clapping and howling as the intro of the music began to play. He glanced at Juvia who looked surprise at the familiarity of the song then her eyes turned to the screen and saw the title of the song, "Dreaming Alone." To his surprise and delight, she found her voice and began to sing the song.

 _The story starts lying in the dark with someone new.  
I'm feeling tired from all the time I've spent on you.  
But now I'm strong from all the trouble I've been through.  
The story starts but the story falls apart with you._

Natsu watched her closed her eyes as she gripped the microphone tightly. She never dared to look at everyone including him on the room. And he couldn't stop his mouth from beaming at hearing her lovely and soothing voice.

 _Don't lie bright eyes isn't me that you see  
When you fall asleep cause I know it's you  
I dream about every night giving me the feeling like  
Love in the summer a way I've never felt with another  
Don't lie bright eyes isn't me that you see  
Tell me I'm not dreaming alone._

 _The story starts lying in the dark broken and bruised._

Her eyes flashed open as her head turned to Natsu who sang the second verse. She couldn't believe that a loudmouth like him could have a pleasing voice.

 _I count the scars left in my heart from loosing you.  
And I was wrong but let's be honest you were too.  
I missed the part where I was falling hard for you._

Natsu glanced at her and flashed her a smug grin as if saying "Not expecting it right?", making her twitch and turn away.

 _Don't lie bright eyes isn't me that you see  
When you fall asleep cause I know it's you  
I dream about every night giving me the feeling like  
Love in the summer a way I've never felt with another  
Don't lie bright eyes isn't me that you see  
Tell me I'm not dreaming alone._

 _I can't take back the things I said.  
And I won't say that I regret  
Any day that I was yours._

They both looked at each other as she sang that part and he in return sang with her, their voice harmonizing.

 _Don't lie bright eyes I know it's me that you see  
When you fall asleep and you know it's you  
I dream about every night giving me the feeling like  
Love in the summer a way I've never felt with any other  
Don't lie bright eyes it will always be you and me  
So why are we dreaming alone._

Their friends began clapping their hands and howling. Even Gajeel gave a whistle. Natsu chuckled as he watched Juvia gaining awareness at her surrounding and causing her face to flush.

 _It will always be you and me so why are we dreaming alone._

Just as the music stopped, Natsu's friends started complimenting Juvia for her voice and ignoring Natsu's since they're used to it, much to the pinkette's dismay. Juvia sat down in embarrassment and turned her attention on her unfinished strawberry shake.

"I never thought you're a singer!" Levy was the first one to speak to her with a candid surprise and amazement. "And your voice matched well with Natsu!"

"Uh.. Thank you Levy." Not used at this kind of compliments, she began sipping her strawberry shake, failing to conceal her blush. It was Laki's turn to sing and she grabbed Levy since the two of them will have a duet.

"You know drinking cold liquor can affect your vocal cords after singing." Natsu commented as he sat beside her with a grin.

Juvia rolled her eyes and grinned wryly. "Juvia doesn't care about that. After all, Juvia isn't a professional singer."

The two of them chuckled then he grabbed a slice of pizza. "Phew. Guess I picked the right song for you to sing. And I'm right that you can't resist on not singing it."

Juvia watched him with mild interest as he gnawed on his pizza. "You. How did you know that Juvia can't resist it?"

Swallowing his food, he let out a mischievous grin. "You forgot I read your diary. Oww-! Fuck!" He squirmed and moved away after she pinched him. "Like I said I read the first page and we both like the same band! And that's one of your favourite songs also."

She glared at him momentarily before she huffed and finished her shake. "What you did with my diary was still cruel and you played dirty today."

"Don't care as long as I made you sing." He smirked and finished his pizza before putting his attention to his friends. She slightly smiled and returned her attention to her strawberry shake.

It took them three hours to finish their karaoke session and they looked wasted after spending their energy on singing, yelling, dancing and eating. All of them decided to go home since it's already seven in the evening. Natsu insisted Juvia to accompany her towards the bus station and the bluenette was too tired to argue so she let him do what he wants. There were few conversations exchanged between them but usually it was Natsu who talks a lot.

"Did you have fun earlier?" Natsu suddenly asked when they arrived at the waiting shed.

She let out a soft smile. "Yeah. Natsu's friends are so nice especially Erza-san."

"Woah...Well Erza's nice as long as you don't make her mad."

"It seems like Natsu always makes her mad. Do you?" She asked in curiosity.

"Well...Uh…You know…" He avoided her look, recalling those moments where he made Erza mad at him. Those were the moments that could make him cringe as he looked back and without knowing, his face was currently making cringe expression, causing the bluenette to suddenly laugh at him. He was then caught off guard at her laugh, so he just stood there and relished the rare scene of her friend laughing at him.

"You're making a funny expression." She said after regaining her composure and grinned at him. "So Natsu made Erza mad. Like many times. "

As soon as the bus came, she quickly thanked him. He waited for her to get inside and for the bus to start. When the bus drove away, he started to walk and casually took out his phone, plugged his earphone on it then connected it to his ears. He was grinning as he scanned his music playlist and chose the song that he just sang awhile ago. But then his phone suddenly beeped and he nonchalantly checked the message. Eyes widened, he quickly opened it when the sender came from Juvia.

 _Juvia: Thank you for inviting Juvia earlier and Juvia really did not regret it even though it's not obvious in her face. Juvia was reallly happy and enjoyed it! (\^.^/) By the way Natsu, you got a good voice. Have you ever thought of forming a band? If Natsu will start a band, Juvia will definitely cheer on you! ^_^_

After reading it, he chuckled and started to reply. And with that message, he began smiling like an idiot as he headed back to his home.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 **A/N**

 _So that was it. I hope you like this chapter :D How I wish this pairing is canon because they are really cute but sadly it won't like never :( Fanfiction is the only place for NaVia to live and I'm still hunting for good NaVia stories._

 _And for the guest, Waffels, who asked if what is the band that Natsu and Juvia likes, well I'd say it's Against The Current as it was depicted in this chapter. They both like it but they have another mutual favorite band which you will figure out in the later chapters. :D_


	4. Confession

_I'm so sorry for not updating this for a month. :( I became so busy and so pressured with my life last month, knowing that I'm a graduating student and I'm still fucking directionless plus lots of people are expecting me to work here and be like this and that like uggghhh. Now I graduated and became part of the unemployed people in our country. Wow, so sad. But I did make an agreement to myself and to my big bro, who understand me so well, that I should finish all of my entertainments and diversions before I settled my mind on finding a job. So for weeks, I did hang out with my friends and went to places and also played some 3ds games and finished it for two weeks. I also watched my pending animes, movies, drama series and read books, fanfictions and mangas to satisfy myself and I don't fucking care anymore if I finished it from night to morning. So basically, I've been doing things to enjoy myself like a spoiled child because later on, I'll be dwelling on the world of professionals. I'll be having some less time to fool around. This story will be my last project before I'll start job hunting. I actually finished this like two months ago but I have to rewrite the last two chapters because it looked awful to me. So for the guys who had been waiting for this, I'm really sorry for the delay and I hope this chapter will make up._

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Fairy Tail.

* * *

 _ **Chapter 4**_

Juvia arrived at their classroom three minutes before their teacher showed up. It was unusual for her to wake up late. Blame the book that she bought with Levy and some of her female classmates from a near bookstore the other day which made her engrossed at the story that she almost forgot the time. She inwardly reproached herself for her tardiness though another part of her disregarded it since her high school life is almost over. And it's not bad to experience slacking off before the school ends, right? It would be a good memory for her to look back. Thankful for being a little bit early than her teacher, she felt a mixture of vexation and amusement at his friend, Natsu Dragneel, who arrived very late in the morning. Their teacher fervidly reprimanded him while the latter just stood there with a droll grin and not-so-apologetic look.

Just looking at Natsu made her recall how he and she officially became friends. Their meeting at that rainy day was very weird for her and it made her wonder why he did that. Oh yeah. Because she was an annoyance to him. Oh, he was also an annoyance to her so the feeling was mutual. His big loud mouth, snarky remarks, improper behaviours at class and weird attachment to Gray, it always made her irk. But what made him annoy her most aside from reading her diary was when he pointed out her negativities. The nerve of him. That was what she thought before. Even an idiot like him could sense what was wrong with her and she detested to be lectured by him. But part of her was relieved that he did that. Because finally, someone saw her image behind her curtains. Someone was trying to understand her. And she regarded him for that.

"Dammit. I'm still sleepy." Juvia heard his mutter when he finally settled on his seat.

Natsu, the guy she met on a rainy Friday afternoon. The guy who was seated at her back and convinced her to join the barbecue party. The guy who sang one of her favourite song together with her the other day. Come to think of it, she got lots of moments with him. It was surprising to her. They even texted each other during night time and he would share to her his crazy adventures with Gray which always made her amaze and sometimes envy him for having so much freedom and also moments with Gray. From her interactions with Natsu, she could write down some good things about him. Regardless of his negativities that she had seen, he's quite friendly, funny, assertive and passionate. And as much she didn't want to admit this, he's kind of…sweet and…good-looking. No wonder he had many friends compare to her. And sometimes, she wished her personality was like that. She could have been an idol on her school or maybe people will hang out with her a lot. That thought just made her cringe so she shrugged it off. But maybe with an extraverted personality, she could gain enough courage to confess her feelings towards her crush.

 _He's truly a nice guy,_ she thought as she nonchalantly drew circles on her desk, her eyes blankly stared at her teacher, who was talking about the upcoming graduation ceremony, while her mind circled around her friend. _If only Juvia was like him,_ Juvia distantly thought as she began to make some random doodles at the last page of her notebook.

* * *

The entire day normally passed and luckily, the third year students were dismissed early after their graduation practice which became a green light for Juvia to do her mission. Gripping firmly at her white envelope with hearts and candies design, Juvia however, stood frozen on the hallway when she saw Gray at the forefront, standing near his locker with a baby pink-colored paper on his right hand and judging from his position, he seemed to be reading and contemplating at whatever that was written on it. But looking at the baby pink color of the paper and his shock expression, she could guess that he's reading a love letter. A love letter made from someone. And that thought just made her frighten.

 _Is Juvia too late?_

When Gray started to walk outside the campus, Juvia tucked her envelope on her pocket and couldn't help but follow the latter to wherever he was going. She did follow him and kept her distance eight meters away. She knew she was stalking Gray again. Stalking her crush was her bad habit ever since she started crushing on him. It was just for fun at first then it became a routine until it leads to freaking addiction. But she knew her limits. Whenever she found Gray hanging out with a girl, she tends to back away. Juvia didn't want to be like a martyr who would handle every pain until the very end. But in this situation at this moment, she couldn't stop herself from following him, knowing that she knows where this situation will lead. Love letter and him going somewhere at the back of the school were bad news to her. What could that mean? That could mean he's going after a girl: a girl who's going to confess to him. Just the thought of that sent a panicky feeling on her stomach and she couldn't command her feet to stop from walking.

When she found out that he's heading to the gymnasium, Juvia secretly searched for a place to hide then decided to make the bushes and trees in front the entrance as her hiding location. As she carefully situated herself at a huge tree, she was shocked to see a girl standing near the threshold of the gym. It was her classmate but she kind of forgot her name. The girl was a blonde with a long hair. Juvia only remembered her at the barbecue party gossiping with her circle of friends and she even talked to the Juvia about her future career. The blonde was nice, accommodating and talkative that if they had interacted a lot last year, they could have been friends. She peered at the blonde and saw a blush crawling automatically on the blonde's face when she saw Gray approaching her.

"So you're also watching this huh." A low voice sounded which made her jolt and whip around in reflex.

Juvia got startled and she almost tripped on her position if only the person beside her held her still and covered her mouth. He roughly pushed her down so they could kneel on the ground and hide their figure on the bushes. "Sshh! Be quiet. Or that stripper will notice us." He whispered aloud but Juvia's mind and heart were still rocketing at his sudden appearance. _What the hell is Natsu doing here?!_ To appease him, she nodded and he released his hand from her mouth. With an impish grin, he returned his attention to the two persons and so as Juvia.

"Um. You read the letter right." Juvia could see the girl's hand twirling her locks out of nervousness. "I'm sorry if I was too weird yesterday."

Yesterday? What the hell happened? Juvia watched her crush scratching his nape while avoiding the heated look of the blonde.

"So…what is it?" Gray finally looked at the girl; uneasiness was unconcealed on his expression.

"I want to..um..tell this properly to you. But…Gosh! I'm so nervous right now!" The girl covered her face with her hands then took a deep breath. As she uncovered her red face, she looked at him with a bashful smile. "I like you Gray! Please go out with me!"

A long awkward silence ensued. Gray just stood there with a horrified expression. Natsu covered his mouth to hold his snicker while Juvia's mouth hung open out of shock. The silence continued for a minute that the girl's smile started to falter while Juvia found the scene embarrassing to watch. Then Gray blinked his eyes.

"I'm sorry…But I can't go out with you." The bashful smile of the girl vanished in an instant at his blunt reply. "And,…uh…I don't know you at all. Not even your name." It was then replaced with horrified gasp,

"B-but I i-introduced myself to you y-yesterday!" the girl stammered, face red with embarrassment.

"Is that so? I-I'm sorry maybe I forgot it. You were stuttering so hard yesterday that I don't know what you were saying." Gray scratched his head with an apologetic look.

The next thing Juvia saw made Natsu turned away before he could start guffawing so hard as the girl started bawling while Gray helplessly tried to comfort her. The girl ran away from him, leaving Gray on the area.

"Dammit. Now she's gonna tell everyone how a jerk I am. Natsu would definitely make fun of me if he knew this." Gray said then treaded away.

As soon as Gray was gone on the area, Natsu burst out from laughter as he couldn't hold it any longer while Juvia frowned at him in displeasure.

"You should have seen his face when he tried to calm her down." Natsu said right after he recovered from laughing. "And you, why are you here anyway? I was actually stalking Gray awhile ago when I saw him reading a pink letter. Then I saw you stalking at him too. Can't believe I'm doing what you're usually doing."

She shot him a sharp look causing him to flinch slightly before she heaved a sigh, bringing her knees to her chest and hugging it.

"Remember what you said when you found Juvia on the rain. When you get mad at Juvia because she was annoying and told her to make herself known to Gray?" She could see him from her peripheral vision that he squatted properly and turned his attention at her, anticipating on what she's going to say next. "Juvia thought about it really seriously until she made her decision to attend the barbecue party. She was very glad to see Gray and they finally interacted. But Juvia wants to be selfish once more. So she decided to plan another selfish move by giving him a letter and confessing to him. As you see, Juvia was about to confess to him today then she saw that girl….Juvia thought she's too late but she wasn't after Gray rejected her. Part of Juvia was relieved but another part of her was nervous. What if Gray may not like it…if Juvia did it?"

There was a pregnant silence and Juvia hugged herself even more, avoiding Natsu's scrutinizing gaze. This was a bad idea and it's even worse knowing that a person witnessed her misery. And out of all people, it was Natsu.

"Why do you like Gray by the way? I know he's fucking popular but…why him?"

Juvia snapped her head to him and looking at his genuine curiosity, she released a heavy sigh. She didn't anticipate that question.

"Juvia was saved by Gray once from the bullies back in middle school. He was just a stranger to Juvia but his calmness and sincerity after he saved her was remarkable. Juvia was just a nobody yet he still helped Juvia…Until Juvia went to this school and she saw Gray again…Juvia was so happy but he was out of her reach. So Juvia tried hard for academics since that's the only thing she could do and maybe he could finally noticed her. He became Juvia's inspiration and reason to strive hard. It didn't work out well because he still doesn't turn to Juvia until that barbecue party came." Juvia finished it with a smile on her face. "Juvia wanted her feelings to be known to him. Juvia wanted to tell him this. I wanted to tell him this." She took a deep breath as she tried to maintain herself or else she will break and cry in front of Natsu. And it's very embarrassing for her.

"I wanted to tell him that I like him also." Her voice cracked, lips quivered as a tear began to slip out from her left eye. Aware of her tear, she quickly wiped it with her hands and covered her face. _Gosh. This is so embarrassing! Juvia wants to evaporate!_

Natsu remained silent and confused as he watched the scene in front of him. It was his first time to see her crying, to see a girl cry personally and in front of him. He never knew what to do in this kind of situation and not even his brother taught him about this when it comes to girls. So the safest thing he did was to rub her back gently, making her flinched in surprise and patiently waited her to stop.

But it didn't help her to calm down instead it made her cry even more. It was just like those moments in her middle school when she pretended to be brave but when someone would calmly tell her "Don't cry.", she would do the opposite like what she was doing at this moment. And whenever she cried, she would tend to vent out.

"J-Juvia was afraid that he might hate her! We just recently became friends a-and if Gray would find out that Juvia have been stalking him…he might feel disgusted! It's so embarrassing! Gray would misunderstand and hate Juvia!"

"He won't hate you. I assure you." Natsu pacified, rubbing her back. "Though he might find your stalking habits weird but he won't despise you because of that."

"Juvia might get laughed at if she got rejected…Just like what you did." She sniffled and sneered at him. She saw him hardened as his eyes grew wide in alarm.

"Shit…I'm sorry. But I didn't laugh awhile ago because of what happened to the girl. I was laughing at his stupidity and epic reaction, Juv." He said sheepishly, scratching his head. "Seriously, I don't know how to calm you down…Damn…I'm not good at this actually. Anyway, you can still confess your feelings to him. So why are you crying now like as if you got rejected?" She looked at him instantly with anger flashed on her eyes while he winced, expecting a retort.

But she just stared at him; no words came out from her mouth. Slowly dropping her gaze on the ground, she took out her handkerchief and wiped her tears. He didn't say a bad thing at all. It's just that…

"It's too painful."

"Painful?" He arched his brow.

"The consequence." She answered, rubbing her eyes with her handky.

"Conse—Why are you thinking of the consequences already when you're not sure of it? Those were just your assumptions and you still don't know what he would really react. You are still about to confess and who knows, he may go out with you. Stop overthinking."

 _He doesn't know so he can't understand._ Juvia couldn't voice it out to him so in response, she smiled despondently. "You're right. Juvia was just over-thinking."

"Damn right. Don't get intimidated at how he responded at that confession awhile ago. But you know what, despite of the consequences, whether he'll turn you down or not; the most important thing is you let that feelings for him out and made known. And also, you learned something from that experience." Natsu said with a proud grin.

"Such inspiring words coming from an idiot like you." Juvia chuckled then his face contorted into a snarl.

"Hey at least thank me for lighting your mood up."

"Yeah. Thank you. It did really help." Juvia sincerely said. She did think that his presence here was a bad thing but at this moment, she took it back.

"Good. Anyway, I can help you to boost up your confidence in confessing." Natsu said with a knowing grin but Juvia saw a glint of mischief in his eyes, and she did kind of not like it.

"Juvia can sense trouble from you." She hissed, narrowing her eyes.

"Trust me. No trouble will happen, I really want to help you Juv, that's why I'm suggesting it." But something was a bit off for her.

"Why are you lending a hand to Juvia?" She narrowed her eyes at him. "It seems like Natsu need something from her." She muttered, keeping a wary eye. But then a wide smile spread on his features.

"Bingo! You got it."

He then took something out from his pocket and hid it on his huge palm. Her brow arched as she wondered what was on his palm. "Well, I wanted to help you and in exchange for that, I want some favour from you."

"No." she immediately answered, making his eyes twitched.

"Oh come on! I still haven't said it!"

She frowned. "That might be dangerous for Juvia. It might be a prank or worse."

He chuckled, lips curling into a smirk. "Trust me and you'll gonna love it."

"So what do you want?"

She crossed her arm, waiting impatiently for his answer.

"Let's have a date this Sunday."

Juvia's expression was going from astonishment to livid. She could feel her blood rising at what he just declared, making her stand up and back away from him.

"Hell no!"

"What?!—wait!" Natsu stood up in alarm and scratched his nape, muttering some crude words. "I knew it! I should have rephrased my words."

"Why are you asking Juvia to have a...a...d-d-date with you?!" she looked mortified at his sudden question. The situation awhile ago still surprised her and now he's doing this. They became friends a few days ago and now he's asking her on a date? This pace escalated way too fast for her.

"It's not like a romantic date that you imagine you idiot." He grunted and Juvia regained her stoic composure at his insult. "You're the only person that I can think about with this. So I'm gonna give this to you and you'll gonna accompany me."

He was really demanding much to her frustration but regardless of that, she was waiting for the item that he's going to give. Natsu then handed her a small paper with a smooth texture and she took it then curiously looked at it. For the millionth time, she was shocked again, shifting her gaze at Natsu then back to the small paper. Her heartbeat skyrocketed as her hands slightly shook. She almost squealed, jumped and hugged Natsu tightly in happiness. Almost.

"So…Are you gonna be my concert pal?" Natsu asked with a hopeful smile.

Juvia looked up at him, instantly forgetting the moment that she just cried in front of him and finally showing off her huge smile as she held the concert ticket of her favourite rock band on her chest.

"Yes!"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 **A/N:**

 _So that was it. I finally made a chapter with Juvia's point of view but for the next chapter, it will back to Natsu. Also, the blonde there is not Lucy if that's what you're thinking or guessing xD Anyway, I appreciate those people who reviewed at the last chapter. Actually you're the one who motivated me to write this and to think that everything that I've been doing was never pointless. I failed to PM you because maybe I was too lazy (slightly, lol) and really embarrassed to say something after not giving a regular update xD Forgive me guys. If we're not going out of town this week, maybe I'm gonna update the next chap this Friday or if not, I will make sure to update next week._

 _So shoutout to:  
_ _ **apitatoor**_ _(dammit, your reviews are always charming to me)_ _ **Waffels**_ _(you'll finally gonna find out the band on next chap),_ _ **DimensionalDragonSlayer**_ _(I hope I satisfied your cravings for Navia and btw I need an update on Juvia senpai lol xD),_ _ **SummerNickels**_ _(Thank you for loving this story and pairing! :D) and to all of the_ _ **Guests**_ _, SUPER THANK YOU to all of you! ^_^_


	5. Pal

**Disclaimer:** Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail, got it?

* * *

 _ **Chapter 5**_

Natsu rubbed his palms together to warm his hands. His maroon long sleeves shirt and checkered scarf kind of helped him to heat up his body. It's already spring season but the weather is still cold for him. Now he couldn't wait for his favourite season, summer. He disliked cold weather since the coldness made him feel lazy that he'd rather spend his entire life in the bed than standing outside in a cold area, just like what he was currently doing. Not for today because today is a special day for him. Standing near a phone booth at the plaza, he looked at his surroundings and found a group of people bringing some merchandises of his favourite band and he guessed that those people would see the concert later in the mall arena. The gates would open at 6:00 pm and the concert would start at 8:00 pm in the evening. Glancing at his watch, it was already 5:47 in the afternoon. Natsu knew that many people would come and wait in line at the gates to open. But the question is: Where the hell is Juvia?

The two of them agreed to meet at 5:30pm in the plaza near the mall. He actually prepared for this day; checking his money and tickets for the tenth time and making sure he looks cool at his outfit. He even came early at the meeting place out of excitement. More than five messages were sent to Juvia but the latter didn't reply.

 _hey_

 _where the fck r u?_

 _u ditching me?_

 _heyyyy_

 _its getting cold here im fucking dying_

He looked so pissed when he typed something on his phone and then few seconds later, Juvia finally texted back. Blowing out a sigh of frustration, he shifted his gaze ahead and saw his friend sprinting towards his direction with a paper bag on her chest. He crossed his arms, preparing himself to reproach her for being late. Natsu couldn't believe the day finally came that a boy like him, who's always late in class, will scold a role model of punctuality like Juvia for being late in an agreement.

"You're sure having fun while taking your time." He sarcastically said.

"Sorry Juvia's late!" Juvia said as soon as she got in front of him, still panting after running.

"You should be. After making me wait for almost twenty five minutes since I was here at 3:15." Natsu emphasized the time, resulting for Juvia to wince at it. "So why are you late? Don't tell me you had a difficult time on choosing your outfit so you could impress me?" He scoffed.

Natsu would lie if he said he wasn't impressed at her attire. She looked quite hot compared to the last time he saw her wearing a casual clothes. Her dark navy blue bonnet matched her dark blue cardigan which was open, revealing a white shirt with an art design of his favourite band's latest album. She wore black shorts and black fashion boots that his face almost heat up at the sight of her alabaster legs and thighs. Her wavy blue hair was down and she was not wearing her glasses, which was unusual for him. He had seen lots of girls wearing skimpy clothes but looking at Juvia in those normal and somewhat revealing (in the lower part) clothes just gave him some strange feeling on his stomach and warm feeling on his body that he kind of enjoy because of the cold weather. He was out of his reverie when Juvia smashed the paper bag on his face with a force.

"You're leering at Juvia you pervert!" She yelled in anger. Natsu mentally cursed for somehow he kind of did it and he felt a slight guilt about it.

"Whatever. And you got the nerve to punch me with that thing after being late!"

"Juvia's not late for the reason that she's taking her time to dress up for you, idiot. Look at that paper bag."

She was scowling at him while he just muttered some half-hearted apologies as he looked inside the paper bag. His brows scrunched at first out of confusion so he took out the items inside then his eyes blinked in surprise.

"Juvia was late because she bought you a t-shirt and a baller for the concert. There were already merch near the arena. You can wear it and it's my thankful gift for the ticket." She said, locking her eyes at him and anticipating his reaction. Relief flooded her when his face brightened up.

"Damn this is too good to be true! First, I got free tickets from my brother then a free merch from you!" Natsu laughed heartily and flashed the bluenette a bright smile. He almost hugged her tightly and swung her around. Almost. "Thank you Juv! This is really great! I'm gonna wear it later so we better hurry there now."

Grabbing her wrist, he started to walk fast while the bluenette staggered behind him with a mortified look.

"What are you doing?! Juvia can walk by herself!" she protested.

"You're not wearing your glasses and you might trip." He playfully said.

"Juvia's wearing contact lens!"

"Don't care."

Natsu was too happy that he ignored her complaints and embarrassment as they both trod towards the gate of the arena.

* * *

Natsu and Juvia were waiting in line to get into the arena but the line wasn't moving terribly quickly. There were lots of people in line who will watch the concert and good thing they were located at the middle. The two just started conversing about their favourite band with questions like "When did you become a fan?""Favourite song from them?" "Favorite album?" "Favorite member?" Natsu was an amusing talker so the pair had hit it off immediately plus both of them were so excited for the concert to start. It was his third time coming to this band's concert while it's the second time for Juvia. She also told him that she was asking some people to sell their tickets to her for this concert since it was sold out before she got the money to buy. She was really happy and grateful that Natsu gave him a free ticket. When they got inside, Natsu went quickly to the restroom so he could piss since he couldn't hold it plus he was excited to wear the shirt that Juvia bought. He told Juvia to wait for him near the restroom so they would not lose each other in the crowd. After finishing his business, he immediately went outside and caught three guys ogling at Juvia who was totally oblivious at them because her attention was placed on her phone. He did check out Juvia awhile ago but seeing other guys looking at her as if she's a prey made him uneasy and somewhat furious inside. Before the unknown guy stepped his foot forward to advance at Juvia, Natsu rapidly strode towards her and audaciously placed his arm around her shoulders, causing her to jolt and look at him in surprise and confusion.

"Let's go." He said with a grin and while she just raised a brow and nodded, trying to yank his arm but he was just strong not to break away. Natsu of course did look back at those guys, sending them a sinister glare as if saying, Back off fucktards.

When the two of them trod downstairs leading to their designated area, Natsu finally detached his arm and smoothly placed his hands inside his side pockets.

"What was that for?" Juvia frowned.

"What?" He glanced at her with a mocked surprise.

"Don't play dumb."

"Fine. I was just saving you from guys who were leering at you and planning to steal my concert pal." He frankly said, making her eyes grow wide. "So instead of going cranky, why not thank me for that?...Oh! I found a good spot!"

He hurriedly went ahead and unfortunately, he did miss the slight blush on the cheeks of his concert pal, who remained silent while she followed him.

Natsu was in awe as he looked the whole area and he could feel his soul trembling in excitement at how big and wide it is. The first time he went to this band's concert was week after his graduation in junior high with his brother and they were at the upper box since Zeref didn't want to stand for the whole period. The second time was with Gray and Gajeel and they situated themselves near the pit so they could join the people on moshing. This time he got the ticket where he could stand almost near the main stage thanks to Zeref, who bought the tickets for him as a graduation gift. His brother should be his companion right now but he couldn't make it because of some business seminar that he needs to attend. He didn't like the idea of giving this free ticket to Gray nor Gajeel. They should buy their own ticket. And so Juvia popped out into his mind. When he remembered her epic reaction about the ticket, it always made him chuckle or smile. She was beaming brightly at that moment and looked much energized like a child waiting in excitement to eat a giant chocolate cake. It was a fascinating sight to him.

When they found their zone, lots of people were already gathering so he grabbed Juvia's wrist again—she was too tired to complain—and hastened their pace towards the spot and looked some space on where they could stand. The crowd gradually increased but Natsu secured his hold to Juvia or else they would be separated.

"You okay here?" he asked, letting go of her wrist as soon as they stopped. They were at the left area near the VIP zone and their position was near at the railing that separates from the other area but still a good spot since they are quite near the main stage.

"Yeah. Juvia is fine here." Juvia said with a frivolous smile. She looks so excited now, Natsu thought in amusement.

As he looked behind Juvia, his eyes twitched then narrowed at the group of guys talking and he caught one guy staring at Juvia's legs. The nerve of him. His eyes squinted in irritation at the perverted face of the man so he slightly tugged Juvia's cardigan.

"What?" she asked, looking perplex.

"Can you give that cardigan to me?"

She didn't move but just shot him a suspicious look. "Juvia is cold Natsu."

"I know. Just take it off. Don't worry, I won't wear it." He said, reassuring her and extending his arm. The two of them exchanged looks for a moment until Juvia sighed in defeat and took off her cardigan then handed it to him with a small reluctance.

"What do you want with that anyway?" She asked curiously until he suddenly moved on her back, surprising her when his arms unexpectedly snaked on his waist. "W-what are you doing?!"

"Stand still." He whispered on her ear as he wrapped her waist with the sleeves of her cardigan. The proximity of their body made Juvia inhale sharply and feel like burning in embarrassment while Natsu concentrated his hands on tying the sleeves. Though his focus was on tying the sleeves, he couldn't avoid the cool lemony scent of her shampoo on her hair as her locks tickled his nose. And he found himself liking the scent.

"Done. Now those perverts would not leer at you anymore." He said and stepped back, finally contented at her lower back covered with her cardigan. Juvia didn't move so he went back to her side and flinched when he saw her.

"Juvia can just do it if you told her. W-why do you have to do that?" She faced him but failed to make an eye contact. She was frowning yet her cheeks were blushing blatantly.

For a moment, Natsu just stared at her and revelled in the cute side of her that he rarely sees. He could only witness her blushing because of Gray but when he made her blush, he strangely felt something warm inside him. And he likes it. When she repeated her question without stuttering, he was snapped out of his trance and flashed a sheepish smile.

"Because I felt like doing it." He directly said, causing her to blush even more. That also made him freeze at what he just blurted. _Oh fuck. What am I saying? She might get it wrong!_

Flailing his hands, he defended. "It's not like what you're thinking!" _Oh fuck. She's glaring at me._

Trying to change the subject, he nervously chuckled and cleared his throat. "Never mind that. Anyway, this shirt and baller you bought was cool…Oh. We had the same shirt."

"Yeah…There were fewer items left and they only had black ones with same designs." She said, peering at him.

"Cool! We both have the same shirt now we look like a…" Natsu stopped lamely at the thought and now, he could feel heat rising up to his cheeks. His eyes darted at Juvia who was also shock and blushing like a tomato. "Oh fuck! I'm not thinking that way! Like come on, everyone's wearing the same design! Haha!"

Natsu gasped in horror at what he just blurted and mentally kicked himself many times. _What the fuck is wrong with me?!_ He didn't know why he was saying some stupid things. Was this because of the cold weather? Or the over-excitement that he felt for the concert that causes him to spout something so lame? Whatever the reason was, he didn't care because all he wanted right now is to disperse from this embarrassment. He was waiting for Juvia to retort but there was none. All he could hear was her hearty chortle.

"What's wrong with you!" she said between her chortles.

He looked at her blankly for a moment before he chuckled nervously then finally smiled in relief. Her chortles were interrupted when a person accidentally bumped on her.

"I'm sorry miss! Are you alright?"

Natsu was fed up with perverts today trying to make a move on his companion. Activating his deadly mode, he faced the man who bumped Juvia but then abruptly stopped, rage dissipated when he recognize the face. His scowl changed into confusion as he stared at the guy who was wearing thick glasses, blue scarf at his neck and a black cap. Despite of the man's get up, he looked so utterly familiar to Natsu.

"S-sensei?"

Natsu was thankful at Juvia for voicing out his thoughts. He watched the man twitched and stepped back. "Uh..Sorry….Lockser?"

"Dammit Jellal. I told you to stay where you are." That confirmed Natsu's suspicion when he saw a familiar redhead stepped behind him then looked at them. "Oh my gosh! Natsu?! And J-Juvia?!"

Erza Scarlet gasped in terror at seeing her underclassmen then heat rose on her cheeks as she looked at her companion or rather date, then back to Natsu and Juvia. Jellal Fernandes, their genius Chemistry teacher, pinched the bridge of his nose, not succeeding to hide his blush. On the other hand, Juvia kept on staring at them in astonishment until she started blushing, finally got the situation while Natsu just maliciously smirked at them.

"You're going out with sensei?" Juvia patently asked them. The silence and blush of the two newcomers somehow answered her question.

Eventually they ended up talking with each other as they waited. Juvia were asking Erza with her relationship and the latter was open about it and even gave the bluenette some advices. Meanwhile Natsu kept on teasing his teacher with his preferences of redhead and school girls. If it weren't for the lights off, Jellal would have strangled him. That was the perfect minute for him to kill his student if only he was stupid to fall on his taunts but too bad, he wasn't. Until the red and blue lights shone on the main stage with a thrilling and cool instrumental music that made everyone placed their attention on the stage. It was thrilling and Natsu had some goose bumps at the excitement. Afterwards, the sound of the bass guitar began to play and the crowd began cheer and howl.

"It's starting!" Natsu yelled.

Then the sound of drums followed and three members of the band finally emerged with a smoky entrance at the stage while playing their instruments. It was still the introduction and everyone began to clap their hands in the air in synchronization. When the vocalist emerged from the centre stage and began to yell his trademark greetings at the crowd, everyone lost it. For sure, Juvia and Natsu would lose their voice out of shouting and singing tonight.

* * *

"That. Was. Fucking. Cool!"

Juvia chuckled as Natsu shouted in joy when they were out of the arena. Smiles and over-satisfaction were visible on the people around them after watching the concert. The concert was great and worth it. Natsu was starstruck when the vocalist came down from the stage, walked on an alley near them while singing and momentarily stayed on that position. Bodies were slamming the pinkette but he didn't care. That was once in a lifetime chance so he moved forward, stretched his hand and reached the vocalist. And it did. His hand touched the shirt of the singer for two seconds until one of the guards spanked his hand. He didn't give a damn. The moment was intoxicating him.

They separated with Jellal and Erza even though the couple insisted to join them in dinner. Since it's their date, the two declined for they didn't want to be the third and fourth wheel. They went to a food stall to buy some snacks then decided to go home since Juvia had a curfew, which Natsu found weird and funny. Her curfew became their topic as they headed out. Juvia explained how her mother is strict at time and because of that, she's always early at school. Natsu on the other hand boasted how independent he is and how his brother doesn't care about him being late as long as he got good grades. After that topic, they went back again discussing the concert.

"I know this sounds gay but I almost cried when he sang the song that he composed for his father." Natsu confessed as the two of them were walking on the sidewalk.

"Then Juvia is the gayest since she cried at that part too and the next one. Plus, he just composed it recently and it was wonderful!"

"Yeah I saw you crying there. You cried three times in the concert."

"Because of his voice! Imagine, he's a rockstar and yet he could sing sweetly." Juvia looked up on the sky with a dreamy smile. "Juvia would die if he would sing to her every night."

"I can sing to you every night." He said with a teasing grin.

And she deadpanned. "Don't do that. Juvia will go to hell."

"Hey that's rude. Admit it. I got a good voice too! But you know what, the most amazing part is the ending. Like goddammit that was perfect and a blast! Plus his screamo was fucking awesome!"

"Yeah! And we were all headbanging together with them near the ending!" she said animatedly. "It was all worth it! Juvia's glad. I'm glad you invited me."

"I'm glad you came there too." He said and they stopped on the waiting shed.

He glanced at her who was now gazing at him as if he did some miracle. He wondered if he had done something until an idea popped out on his mind then he shot her an enthusiastic smile.

"Hey. Let's do this again next year. But that time, it will be your treat." He suggested and caught her flinched for a second. She looked away from him and smiled. But it didn't reach her eyes. Now that bothered him.

"Yeah…Maybe we can do this again."

"Hey. You don't sound excited. I was just joking about the treat so don't worry." He chuckled.

"Silly." She half-heartedly laughed.

 _Did I just ruin the mood?,_ he wondered as he peered at her, trying to read her. A honk sounded and they both looked at the bus that was coming.

"Juvia's going home now." She said, facing him with a candid smile. "Thank you for this day Natsu. It was really fun."

He grinned. "Yeah. See you at school."

Natsu watched her getting inside the bus and sitting near the window. Juvia looked at him then waved her hand, mouthing a goodbye. He smiled at her and casually waved his hand in response as the bus started and left him standing on the waiting shed.

Natsu began to walk while glancing at the starry sky with his mind still thinking at the concert and his concert pal.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 **A/N**

 _The band's concert that I described here is actually from One Ok Rock. I think most of you knew or familiar with them and I purposely didn't mention the band's name here because I found it kinda weird. But let's just consider that it's Natsu and Juvia's fav band here in this story :D Actually I rewrote this chapter since the band that I described here at first was Linkin Park. I wrote this story last year, the month after Chester died. I was disheartened when I heard the shocking news since LP was one of my favourite bands and I started liking rap rock because of them. LP is a legend for me and most of their songs reflect my emotions during my high school time or even when I'm lonely. But then my mind changed and shifted to One Ok Rock instead when my parents didn't allow me to attend at their concert last January. I was very disappointed at their decision and I had no choice but to abide my parents. Some of the things here in this chapter were my personal experiences (especially, the touching of shirt and spanking guard part). I think I'm uncharacteristically crazy when in fangirling mode and it's embarrassing but I can't help myself xD I also intentionally posted this chapter today because today is the birthday of the vocalist of One Ok Rock, Taka Moriuchi (Happy Birthday you Awesome Guy!) I know nobody cares about that thing but I just feel like doing it. :D_

 _Thank you to those readers who reviewed last chapter and as usual, I was smiling and feeling "awww~" while reading it:_

 _ **yaoi-freak2580**_ _(thank you so much and I hope you found this chapter cute too xD)  
_ _ **BlindingLight98**_ _(my eyes bulged out when I saw OOR on your review. Yeah man you got it right :D)  
_ _ **Waffels**_ _(Thank you so much for always appreciating my work! You're one of my motivators lol and I hope you like this chapter :D)  
_ _ **Summer Nickels**_ _(Keep. Loving. This. Pairing. And this story *dabs xD)  
_ _ **Assistant Elite General Matteo**_ _(Told ya already :D)  
_ _ **DevilSlayer**_ _, (thank you for pointing out my error xD)_


	6. Like

_Yo guys, how are you? My out of town vacay was not enough but I think I need to go back home for this story. Sorry for the delayed update but anyways here's the next chapter! Enjoy reading. :D_

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Fairy Tail

* * *

 _ **Chapter 6**_

"What the fuck! I was in the upper box and you didn't tell me that you got an extra ticket for standing! You could have given that ticket to me!" Gray yelled, furious at how his best friend kept those tickets as a secret for him.

"Not in your wildest dreams I will give it to you for free, loser." Natsu snarled. "As what I said, my brother bought it and I thought he would come."

It was time for lunch break. Natsu and his guy friends stayed at the rooftop, eating their lunch and talking about the recent concert. The guys had also watched the concert but they were located in the upper box unlike from Natsu. It all surprised them when they found out that Natsu got an extra ticket and most of them, especially Gray, wanted to beat the hell out of him for keeping it a secret. Aside from talking about the band, they also witnessed their Chemistry teacher with a certain redhead senior watching the concert. And they hadn't also missed Natsu's companion at that time. Which was now their current topic.

"So you brought Juvia in the concert huh." Gajeel said with a sly grin as soon as Natsu finished his monologue about the concert.

"Yep. She was also a fan of them." Natsu nonchalantly said as he devoured his rice balls and tempura, unaware of his friends' teasing smirks.

"So that's why you gave the free ticket to her." Gray said, resulting Natsu to roll his eyes in irritation.

"When are you going to drop that shit? Are you jealous of Juvia because she was with me instead of you?" He scoffed, terribly missing the point.

"You're getting along well with her." Droy stated, watching the pinkette carefully.

"Uh-huh. She's cool and nice. You should get along with her also." Natsu picked his water bottle and began drinking it. Droy sighed, shaking his head while Gray and Gajeel stifled their laugh.

"Are you guys dating?"

Jet finally asked and chose to be direct at his dense companion. But to his horror, Natsu choked and spitted his water. On poor Jet's face. "Fucking gross!"

"We're not dating!" Natsu wheezed, looking aghast. But his friends were just smirking except for Jet who was lethally glaring at him and muttering some dark curses which the pinkette ignored.

"Whatever Natsu. But it seems like you're getting closer to her as what I've observed." Gray said not dropping his teasing smirk.

"Really? What an observant you are." Natsu snorted, holding the urge to punch his best friend's smirking face. _Why don't you observe her so that you'll know that girl kept on stalking you and likes you from the moon and back you fucking stupid droopy eyes princess stripper._ "Unfortunately, you're fucking wrong."

"But what about Lisanna?" Droy suddenly asked out of the blue, making the other guys turn their heads to him.

Natsu's eyes blinked. "What about her?"

"Droy's right. You got the hots on her that you kept on blabbering some shits about her. What now? You gonna man up and tell her that you like her? This week is our last just so you know." Gajeel said and began nibbling on his fried shrimp.

Lisanna. Natsu mentally slapped his face. He almost forgot about her. The girl that took his heart when it was his first day as a freshman; he tripped on the staircase then she saw him and helped him stand without laughing at how lame and clumsy he fell. The girl who always flashed a smile at him even though he did some stupid things that could label as an embarrassment for a human being. The girl who kept on reminding him about assignments and exams during their second year and she even helped him whenever he's in danger zone in his academics. How could he forget her dazzling short white hair, shiny blue eyes and sweet genuine smile?

"Can you please close your mouth? You're drooling and making a stupid face." Gray quipped, causing the pinkette to snap out from his reverie and face reality.

"It's been three years yet you're not making progress with her." Jet remarked as the other guys nodded.

"How can he? When all he could do is text her, smile like an idiot when he saw her, tease her about her height and acting like a tsundere when she's with him." Natsu gritted his teeth at every observation that Gajeel stated.

"Hey I'm not a tsundere!" Natsu averred, anger seething on his tone.

"Whatever. My point is you're acting like a different person when you're with her." Gajeel said. "But when you're with that four-eyed Lockser, you look relax and comfortable. But still, that's different since you're not usually relaxed for a hot-tempered like you."

"Yeah. I thought you dislike her before." Droy interjected.

Crossing his arms, he glared at them. "So what's your fucking point?"

Droy shrugged while the other guys shared some amusing look. He couldn't grasp what they're actually thinking and it pissed him off. And the sound of the bell was a great timing for his friends stood up, still plastered a knowing grin and began to stride off. Enraged, Natsu stood up.

"You bastards! This week I'm gonna ask Lisanna out! You hear me you mother fuckers! I'm gonna ask her out!"

* * *

"I'm gonna ask her out." Natsu mumbled tediously as he closed his locker. "I'm gonna fucking ask her out."

"Natsu's gonna ask out who?"

He jerked at the sudden voice then sprang his head on the person on his left side. There it was Juvia who was staring at him with her usual stoic look. That stoic look usually annoyed him before but now he just found it comical. Sometimes it amazed him on how he and Juvia unpredictably became friends and he felt a measure of pride with that. Their high school days would come to an end and it gave him a question if he could still see her or hang out with her in the next stage of their lives. Shaking his head slightly, he quit thinking of those thoughts and faced her instead with a grin.

"No one." He finally answered but judging by her deadpan look, she wasn't convinced.

"It's unfair for Juvia that she doesn't know who your love interest is." She said, readjusting her specs and giving him a scrutinizing look.

"Fine." He huffed then a thought crossed his mind which made him smirk. "I'm gonna tell you who she is if you'll accompany to a DVD store."

"No." She muttered, making him twitched.

"I can buy you some ice cream if you want."

She stared at him for a moment before a smirk formed on her lips. "Juvia was just kidding awhile ago. Of course she'll go with you without buying ice cream."

"Oh great. I was also joking about it `cause I don't have—"

"But since Natsu offered, there's no turning back for that. By the way, two scoops for Juvia." She cut him off and began to walk without looking back at his shock face.

"Hey wait! I take back what I said!"

The two of them strode off while talking about the concert again. It seemed like they still got hangover from the happening as they kept repeating their reviews from yesterday. Their conversation shifted from band to school then to university plans but for some reason, Natsu could sense the indifference mood of Juvia with the current topic. So he asked her of what she wanted to become in the future.

"Juvia wanted to become a singer." She coolly said as they both stopped when the traffic light turned to green. Natsu looked surprise for a moment before a genuine smile broke out on his mouth.

"That's cool! You got a great voice so I bet you can be a great one."

"Yeah. But Juvia can't pursue that career." She wistfully said.

"Why not?" The loud honk of a cargo truck pierced everyone's ears, making them recoil. Natsu glared at the truck and muttered something about stupid drivers and noise.

"It's impractical." She calmly said while he looked at her, raising his brow.

"What makes it impractical? The financial part? Well I think if you want fast money, you can join some idol groups." He then paused and pondered. "On the second thought, I don't think joining idol groups can provide you financially."

Juvia chuckled. "Juvia can still be a singer with any career she'd choose. Plus, Juvia decided to become a marine biologist. Juvia loves the sea and the creatures living in it."

Natsu watched her as she looked up on the sky with a serene face. The people around them began to move when the traffic lights turned red and the two of them started to cross the street.

"Marine Biologist. That's quite fancy." It was unusual for Natsu to hear people admitting to him about pursuing that career.

"Not really. And it will take me years to become one. What about you Natsu? What do you want to be?" she asked as they trod on the pathway and matched her pace with him so she could be walking by his side.

"I want to be a civil engineer." He grinned smugly as she stared at him with a brow creased.

"Your weakest point is Math."

He scowled at her blunt remark. "You don't have to say it! Don't judge my capabilities you four-eyed smartass."

"They said engineering subjects are so difficult. Will you really going to make it?"

"Are you looking down on me?"

"Plus…You don't look like the builder type. You're the wrecking type to Juvia."

"Now you're insulting me! What else do you wanna say? Keep going `cause you're really helping me." He sarcastically said.

"Just kidding." She looked at him with a teasing smile. Natsu scowled at her then few seconds later, they began to laugh. It's funny how she can taunt him and push his buttons effectively when it's usually him who does that job.

"I know I suck at Math but I do want to become an engineer." He cheekily grinned. "So if you really want something, then you better work hard to get it. I know I can pull this off."

"You're right."

Natsu glanced at her who was looking pensive for a minute and made him wonder on what she was thinking right now. A few minutes later, they arrived at the DVD store and the two immediately walked inside. Natsu went to the album section and gasped in horror when he found out that the latest album of his new band that he recently got obsessed with was sold out. Juvia felt sympathy towards him since she had also experienced that before. Looking dejected, he waited for Juvia near the front door since she bought some DVDs then left the store as soon as the bluenette was done. They proceeded to some ice cream shop, hoping that the taste of ice cream could ease his feelings.

"How do you know Juvia likes peppermint?" Juvia looked dumbfounded as Natsu handed her a peppermint ice cream while he got a vanilla flavor. She then took it with a big smile and happily licked it in delight.

"Seems like you forgot that I read your diary." He chuckled when she threw him a half-hearted glare. "I kinda like it but I prefer vanilla more."

After paying the two left the place and began to stroll. "Anyway, what did you buy awhile ago?"

"Just some horror movies." She answered then continued eating her ice cream.

"Really? What movies?" he asked with interest. "Do you scream and cover your eyes when there are jump scares?"

"Nope. Juvia sometimes flinch at some jump scares because of the loud sound effects and background music. Juvia doesn't cover her eyes because what's the point of watching something horror if you cover your eyes. That's just stupid." She said as she started biting her cone.

Natsu knew she likes that genre and he found it weird for her at first but knowing her now, he was amazed at the thought of her watching the whole horror movie without screaming or having heart attack. He likes horror movies too and maybe he could invite her to watch some horror movies in the cinema with him…and with his friends too.

"Juvia also laughed at some stupid characters dying in stupidity. Sometimes she would rewind the death scene so she could laugh at them again." She giggled.

Natsu gaped at her with a blank expression for a moment. _Yeah…she's definitely dark and weird._

"It's almost 3:00pm." She spoke, showing her watch to him. "You still didn't tell Juvia who your love interest."

 _Oh fuck. Here I thought she forgot it._ He blew out a sigh and ran his hand through his hair before flashing her wry grin. "Right. But first let's go somewhere."

"Where is it this time?" she groaned while he just chuckled.

"My usual hangout place."

Natsu led the way to their destination while Juvia followed and kept on telling him something about diverting topics. They stopped their tracks when they reached a street basketball court and Natsu's eyes twitched in annoyance when he saw two junior high kids playing basketball. When they noticed his presence, they stopped playing, face suddenly brightened and to his horror, they sprinted towards him.

"Fuck." Before he could grab Juvia's wrist and ran, they already blocked his way.

"Natsu-senpai! Please teach us your ultimate move like what you did last time!" The blonde boy with a spiky hair yelled with an enthusiastic smile.

"Sting and I have been practising everyday. We're improving!" The black-haired boy said ardently, dribbling the ball.

"Come on kids, not now. I don't feel like teaching you something today." Natsu offhandedly said.

"Huh? Why not?!" the blonde boy demanded until his companion nudged him and pointed his finger at Juvia. The blonde briefly turned to the bluenette then to the pinkette then back to the black-haired friend and exchanged looks before a smirk appeared on their face. "I see. Next time then."

Natsu arched his brow at their strange behaviour when suddenly the black-haired boy spoke in a mocking tone before they could walk away.

"Have fun with your girlfriend."

Natsu felt his blood boiling in anger and rising on his face as he watched the two boys cleverly running away from him. "What the fuck are you thinking you fucking blondie punk and emo creep?! Come back here!"

That's it. First his friends and now those two brats. He couldn't take it anymore and he needed something to punch on or else he—

"Natsu." He instantly turned to his companion—not girlfriend—still burning in anger. Why does people misinterpret his relationship with Juvia? It's getting annoying to him because—

"Just let it go. Those are just kids with immature brains." She calmly said as she readjusted her glasses. But Natsu could see her blush also. And it made him even more embarrassed. "Juvia is also embarrassed with that. Let's just forget it."

He watched her sit on the bench as she fiddled her fingers and concentrated her gaze on the court. What happened back in the rooftop and few minutes ago were frustrating for him. Sighing in defeat, he sat beside her making sure he's 30 inches away from her. He couldn't deny this stuff but lately, as much as he wanted to deny this and as much as he wanted to ignore this, he had been thinking about her. A lot. His friends teasing him didn't help him to become less conscious around her now. And he was still in denial.

"You play basketball?"

Natsu jerked at her sudden question, making him look at her with a raised brow because of her sudden interest. With a sheepish grin, he scratched his nape. "Yeah. I used to play it back in junior high then I stopped since I lost my passion on it."

She turned to him, knitting her brows in confusion. "Why did you lose your passion on it?"

He gave her a long look then her eyes widened as she covered her mouth. "Sorry. Juvia should not ask something too personal."

"It's okay." He let out a rueful smile, running his callous hands on his pink locks and gazed at the ground. "I lost my passion since it reminded me of my Dad. He was the one who encouraged me to play basketball because he was also a basketball player in his youth and then he left us and went to another woman, leaving his family" He heaved a sigh before he continued, subconsciously playing his fingers. "My mom died from a heart disease three years ago so it was just me and my brother. Our old man still support us financially especially my school. But I'm still mad at him knowing that he was part of the reasons why Mom died. My brother kept on telling me to stop blaming him and just grow up. But it's hard though. It will take time for me to accept things."

It felt so strange in his mouth when he spoke those words. It had been a long time when he opened up this drama of his life and the last time was two years ago when he and Gray first tried drinking beers then got smashed, causing them to get carried away and vent about their issues in life. He disliked talking about his past. Part of the reason was it gave him a disheartened feeling because of his mom and another part gave him a feeling of grim because of his dad. But at this moment, without alcohol influence, he too got carried away and just opened it up for the first time to Juvia. He disliked admitting it but she really is special for him now that he told him about his father. Indeed. He was really in denial.

"Juvia is so sorry about your mother." He glanced at her and saw her fretful look. "And sorry for bringing this topic."

"Nah. It's okay. And I'm kinda flattered that you want to know something about me." Natsu simpered.

Her eyes twitched in displeasure in a fleeting moment as she jokingly sneered and then remembered something important. And it made her glare at him. "Let's cut the chase. Juvia knows you're aiming to avoid this topic. Just tell Juvia who your love interest—"

"Lisanna."

Juvia blinked in surprise at how super fast he responded. "Oh. Lisanna? As in Lisanna Strauss?"

"Yep." He evenly said with a wry smile. "Don't be surprise. Everyone knows it but it's weird that she's oblivious to it."

"Juvia doesn't know about it actually." She confessed.

"Yeah. Since your eyes were fixated on Gray that you never cared to look at someone else's drama." He rolled his eyes while she remained silent for it's a fact.

"I do like her a lot. Since first year. And I'm gonna ask her out this week." He averred, lifting his fist high and feeling a new source of energy to boost his motivation. "I'll make sure of it."

"And what if she rejects you?"

Her question felt like cold water splashed on his face as if he began to distinguish the reality. He never actually thought about being rejected by Lisanna.

"I didn't plan to ask her out just to be rejected at the end." He countered, narrowing his eyes.

"You can't force a girl to say yes when you ask her out." She fired back, giving him a pointed look.

"Who says I'm gonna force her? I'm gonna do things on my own and she won't reject me! Stop being a pessimistic." He retorted.

"Juvia is not pessimistic but a realist! Natsu should also think the negative outcome of his actions."

"Oh come on! Look who's talking!" He rolled his eyes then his lips curled into a smirk as he eyed her. "You can't even confess to your long-time crush."

She scoffed. "That applies to you too. Like you already confessed to her already. Don't be cocky."

"But at least I can talk freely to her than just stalking."

That hit her nerve. Juvia's face was as red as cherry and her lips formed into a thin line, containing herself before she would explode and do some actions that might regret her.

"Juvia's gonna tell Gray about her feelings tomorrow." She said firmly causing his eyes to broaden in mocking astonishment

"Seriously?" He asked in feign surprise before he laughed. "You can't even talk to him clearly! For sure you'll gonna ask him about his favourite number on the remote control."

"Don't look down on Juvia!" Juvia kicked his foot as he moaned in pain then began to nurse it, shooting her a glare.

"Geez! That fucking hurts! We're just throwing trash talks and you're getting physically violent." He groaned. "Now you've got some guts to kick me huh yet you can't even say 'I like you' to him."

Blush turned deeper unto her face as she yelled in anger. "Of course Juvia can say it! Juvia can say to Gray that I-I-…"

"Say what? See what I mean? You can't even utter those three fucking words!" He crossed his arms with a wicked grin, watching her suffering as she sputtered for words.

"I-I…l-like you. There Juvia said it."

His eyes widened as he stared at her. Cheeks still blushing madly, she avoided his intense gaze while she clutched her bag.

"Say it again."

"I-I..l-like you."

The moment she stuttered and said those words, he found it hard to make out what he was doing.

"Don't stutter."

"I like you."

He couldn't understand why he felt his heart warm at those three words that were uttered by this blue-haired girl.

"If you want to make it more sincere, you better make it loud and look at me!"

He couldn't understand why his heart palpitated so fast when she slowly turned her gaze and locked it on him as her blush became darker when she spoke those words once again with clarity.

"I like you!"

He couldn't understand those thing yet. So he suddenly laughed for a moment, causing the bluenette to look at him in confusion and somewhat insulted. A group of kids entered the court and glanced at Natsu who was laughing and wondered if he had gone insane. When the pinkette recovered, he then ruffled her hair, causing her to squeak, and grinned.

"Let's go home now. I think you're ready to confess to him."

Natsu stood up and began to walk without bothering to wait for Juvia who was now catching up on him and throwing insults. His mind was fuzzy and so was his heart.

He couldn't comprehend what he was actually doing awhile ago. But one thing was for sure.

He couldn't ask Lisanna out anymore.

Looking up on the sky and feeling Juvia walking behind him and still muttering some cute curses against him, a realization finally strike him as he whispered those words with a huge smile on his face.

"I like you too."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 **A/N:**

 _So Natsu finally admitted it that he llllikes her! I don't think this chap is cuter than the previous chap (and seems like everyone really adores it) but the next chapter will be kind of different. Btw, I was gonna upload this last Sunday but I was catching some episodes of Singers 2018 (Dimash nailed it but I still love Huahua) and when I read Shingeki no Kyojin's latest chapter, it really ruined my mood and if you read it, then you know the reason :( Anyways, To all those people who reviewed the previous chap thank you sooo much and I believe that I pm you already. :D But to Waffels (I hope you get an account so I could thank you properly and I have so much to say to you), thank you so much for your lovely review! I'm very happy that you found my writing improving and I felt a self-fulfilment for that._

 _So that's it folks! Thank you again for reading!_

 _xoxo_


	7. Feelings

_Yo! Sorry for the late update. My resting time is over and now time to go back and take care of this story. Enjoy reading! :D_

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Fairy Tail.

* * *

 _ **Chapter 7**_

Juvia stared at her reflection in the mirror and frowned at how terrible she looks. Her eyes looked kind of weary and she mentally berated herself for not getting enough of sleep. How could she sleep well if her heart kept on pounding and mind circling at the thought of her upcoming confession? It disrupted her slumber and she suffered at the result.

"Juvia should not look like this today!" She said with a panicky feeling, touching her cheeks.

She quickly opened her drawer and subsequently took out a small casket that contains her cosmetic products. She rarely used these stuffs but for this special day, she had to. She sloppily applied a concealer on her eye bags then put some foundation and a pink lipstick on her lips. When she felt satisfied at her face, she took her bag and went out of her room. As soon as she got down, she caught the sight of her mother wiping her favourite figurine while conversing to her friend on the living room. Both of them stopped on talking when they noticed Juvia and a horrified look crossed on their face.

"What have you done to your face sweetie?!" Her mother gasped in horror; almost dropped the figurine that she held.

"Were you trying to make yourself pretty?" Meredy, her friend, asked in disbelief. "Cause you really failed and ended up looking like a modern Geisha!"

"Does Juvia look really bad?" Juvia asked, worried at her state.

"Yes you are!" they answered in unison, causing her to recoil.

"Let's go back to your room and fix your face. You look funny." Meredy said as she approached the bluenette and pushed her back to the stairs.

"B-but we're gonna be late."

"I don't care Juvie. I don't wanna walk to school with you looking like that. Just let me help you out today. Okay?" She light-heartedly slapped her back as Juvia pouted at her.

"Okay."

It took fifteen minutes for Meredy to put some make-up on Juvia, since she had to redo everything, and questioned the bluenette for why she wants some glow up which was left unanswered as Juvia kept on urging her to hurry. Juvia on the other hand felt thankful towards Meredy because of her skills on aesthetics. With a pressed powder, eye brow gel and a shiny lipgloss applied to her face, she felt herself looking like a real and descent human. Afterwards, the two of them left the house without missing the cookies and cinnamon rolls for snacks that Juvia's mom gave.

Meredy was one of her few close friends at school plus she's also her neighbour. The two of them were classmates on their sophomore year but as they became third years, they seldom hang out since the two of them were busy on their studies. Lately, Meredy was catching up and making time with her for the past few weeks. Juvia had to feel happy with that but part of her still felt lonely at the reality that will dwell in to her on the later part of her life. High school will be over and college life will come.

"Your mom is still overprotective." Meredy uttered with a sly grin. They stayed on the waiting shed, patiently waiting for the bus. "Makes me wonder how she would react if she saw you with a guy."

"Quite the opposite. She'd be like some giddy teenager." Juvia said, cringing at her imagination of her mom.

"So you haven't told her about your date last weekend." Juvia was taken aback, frowning at her smirking friend.

"That wasn't a date." She reproved.

"Whether you deny it or not, it was still a date. Come on, a guy asked you to be his _concert pal_? Seriously. Even you took it as a friendly way, that doesn't erase the fact that _he is_ interested in you at least. And guys don't hang out with girls that they don't like."

"Natsu is just a friend." Juvia said firmly.

Meredy fleered. "Really? Then tell that to your blushing face."

As soon as she said that, the bus came and Meredy nonchalantly boarded in, leaving a fuming Juvia. Blowing out a sigh of frustration, Juvia stomped inside and sat next to the pinkette who was pulling out her earphones from her bag.

"Juvia likes Gray, Meredy." Juvia started.

"Uh-huh. Knew that already."

"And Juvia's going to confess her feelings to him. Later."

With that, Meredy whipped her head to her companion, with eyes so wide as if she had heard the latest and trending gossip in the world.

"You. Are. Going to confess to him?" Juvia nodded in response. "You sure about that?"

"Juvia already thought about it and made a decision."

Meredy gawked at her for a moment before releasing a sigh. "Oh well, I see now why you wanted to put some filters on your face. And here I thought you like Natsu better than that Gray."

"What?" Juvia jolted, her eye brows scrunched at what she just said. "Juvia doesn't like Natsu that way. Why do you always keep on pairing me with him?"

Rolling her eyes, Meredy connected her earphones to her phone. "It's because ever since you became friends with him, you kept on talking about him whenever we hang out." She then plugged the earphones on her ears and glanced at Juvia. "And I saw several of expressions that you rarely make when you speak about him. I can see that you like him whether you deny it or not Juvie. That's why I was bothered that you want to confess to your crush knowing you got a zero percent chance. Maybe you are still hoping or maybe you're just self-handicapping."

"Self-handicapping?" Juvia asked with a perplexed expression but Meredy just shrugged and scanned her playlist, leaving her hanging.

That was the end of their conversation. It was a quiet ride on the way to school but Juvia was bothered at Meredy's words. Her liking Natsu? She didn't actually know. Honestly, that guy had been disrupting her mind lately but she couldn't quite decipher her feelings towards him. Maybe she did like him but not the way on how she likes Gray. Maybe. She still didn't know. Her mind drifted from her plan on confessing and then to her future path. Just the thought of her plans after graduation made her stomach queasy and heart aching.

 _Calm down Juvia._ She placed her hand on her chest and breathed in. _You enjoyed your high school life, did you?_

Smiling at herself, she whispered yes and closed her eyes, recalling those fun memories that she had—those memories that she would treasure. And most of it was shared with a certain male pinkette.

* * *

It's the final rehearsal and Natsu was tapping his foot out of boredom while glaring at the school prefect who kept on repeating those students' names who missed and always late—and he's one of the latecomers—at graduation practice for the third time and reminding them again and again about the flow of graduation program. The reminders took half an hour to finish and when it was done, everyone was dismissed. Natsu could see his batchmates congratulating one another and most girls were hugging and crying. A pat on his shoulder made him whipped around and saw Gajeel's snarky grin.

"Yo why are you just standing here? If you're gonna cry like a baby right now, I'm not gonna stop you." Gajeel snickered.

"Not a chance moron. Why is everyone crying already? It's not yet the actual day." Natsu uttered, knitting his brow.

"Let them cry their hearts out dude. School's finally over maybe reminiscing those days made them tear up." Natsu gaped at his companion, searching his face. Even though he knew that this guy is sometimes a jerk, he was the mature one in his circle of friends.

That's why Natsu just snorted and grinned. "Yeah. They should do that. Who knows what will happen on that day? The school might get on fire or worst the world would end."

"Well I heard from Levy that students will be automatically graduated if ever the school was burnt down on accident."

His mouth was agape, astonished at the idea. "Really?! We should have burned this school in the first place."

"Stop saying that Natsu that's horrible." Levy chided as she walked towards Gajeel who looked at her and grinned. Levy shyly smiled back and held his hand which he interlaced their fingers in response.

"Hey Shrimp."

"Hey."

Natsu had to look away from them to respect their private moment and also not to gag out in disgust. The way their eyes sparkled and hands tangled whenever they see each other gave him some urge to punch something. Was he jealous for them? Maybe.

"I haven't seen Gray around. Have you seen him?" Levy asked out of the blue.

"Nah. I haven't." Natsu responded, searching for his best pal in the crowd.

"Is that stripper over there? I think he's with someone familiar…Oh…He is." Gajeel said, pointing at somewhere and flashing a smirk. Levy and Natsu followed the direction where he pointed and their eyes grew wide.

"Is that Juvia? She's talking to him."

He heard Levy faintly but his eyes focused evenly at the pair in a far distance. Juvia was fidgeting her fingers as she was conversing with Gray. Natsu couldn't see Gray's reaction since his back was facing his view. But he could see Juvia. And there was something on her face that he found so different. Then suddenly Juvia walked out of the auditorium, leaving Gray who was standing and scratching his nape.

"What do you think it was about?" Gajeel asked.

"I have the feeling she will confess to him." Both guys turned their head to Levy who looked shock for a moment then covered her mouth in mortification. "Crap! That was a secret."

"Make sense." Gajeel scratched his chin, discerning something. "Now I know why she was oggling and blushing at Gray during the barbecue party. I thought she got the hots for you Natsu."

Natsu did not say a word but started to walk off, leaving the couple bewildered. His thoughts were filled with Juvia at this point in time. She would really confess her feelings to Gray. And he could not stop her with that. Her message for him yesterday gave him mixed emotions as she thanked him for encouraging her always to confess. But part of him was displeased at her confessing to his best friend. But more likely, he was upset of his self for giving some encouragement to her.

 _I can't blame her. She likes him….But I like her also._

His feet just kept on walking without thinking about his actual destination. Some students were calling his name but he was not aware of it as his mind was so unclear and stomach feeling sick all of a sudden. The area became crowded around him and he found himself on the school canteen. To ease his troubled feelings, he bought yakisoba bread and gnawed on it while searching for an empty table. He situated himself next to a girl and he immediately regretted the moment when he sat on the chair and glanced at the girl beside him.

"Hey! What are you doing here?" Her eyes were shimmering and she casted him her trademark smile.

"…Yo." Natsu swallowed the chunks of his bread and grinned at her. "I'm hungry."

"I see." She giggled. "It's been awhile since we talked to each other. You seem so busy lately. Are you preparing yourself for university life?"

Natsu stared up at her for a while at the same time as she just tilted her head in confusion. Clenching his fists, his right hand almost squeezed his bread as he deliberated. Taking a deep breath, he spoke.

"Lisanna, I want to tell you something."

* * *

Juvia kept fidgeting her fingers as she paced back and forth at the Science Lab. She couldn't believe that she talked to Gray earlier and agreed with her to meet at this place because she was going to tell him something. The lab was not a great and ideal place for a confession but it was the only place she found secluded for nobody's using this at this hour. In addition, she had an access with this room because she was the former president of Science Club. Her heart was beating rapidly and cold sweat was excreting all over her body. She had to calm down thus she stopped and inhaled deeply, smelling the scent of ethyl alcohol in the room which she found somewhat relaxing to her. _Juvia can do this!_

When she heard the door creaked open, her heart was on alarm. The moment would finally come and she had to brace herself. Turning her head slowly to the boy who just entered, she felt her knees suddenly weakened. Part of her wanted to back out but she made it this far. No time to chicken out.

"Juvia." The way he uttered her name gave her some shivers as she gripped the end of the table so hard to support her body from standing. Gray slowly approached her. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

"G-Gray…" Her breath quickened as she stared at him, tongue-tied. Shaking her head, she clenched her fists and ignored the nauseating feeling she had. The tension between them thickened and it's suffocating her. She wanted to break the ice right now. And so she did.

"J-Juvia wants to thank Gray for everything. Juvia knows t-that you don't remember this but you saved her back then from middle school and you became Juvia's inspiration. Thank you for that day because you made Juvia realize to stand up and never get beaten by people. Gray is one of Juvia's motivations to strive hard in her studies and life. That's why Juvia was so thankful to you and happy that she finally talks to you." She paused as she placed her right hand on her chest, feeling the loud and rapid beat of her heart. The beating somehow hurt her chest and having a heart attack was the last thing she wanted. This was utterly nerve-wracking.

"Aside from that, Juvia wanted to tell you this….Juvia likes you Gray. Ever since that day Juvia likes you so much."

She closed her eyes for a moment and breathed in and out, clasping her cold hands together. The torture was finally over. She finally said those words to him. The fear, the repressed feelings and hopeless emotions were excreted out from her body. And somehow it was relieving her. As she opened her eyes, she saw him looking shock. Then it turned into a despondent one. What's surprising was she was expecting that reaction.

"Thank you for that but I'm sorry Juvia…I can't accept your feelings." He looked away as he scratched his nape. Juvia pursed her lips and nodded slowly.

"It's okay Juvia already anticipated that." She smiled sadly at him. "Juvia also knew that you are in a relationship with someone recently. And secretly."

She watched his eyes growing wide in surprise and a blush spreading across his cheeks. "H-how…"

Juvia couldn't disclose to him that she's stalking him so she faked a playful smile. "That's a secret."

"Damn." He sighed and finally gave her a pensive look. "I'm really sorry about this Juvia but I appreciate those feelings for you. I was also about to tell everyone and you about me and my girlfriend after graduation but…you figured it out already."

"Don't worry. Juvia will keep this a secret."

"Thank you. But Juvia…" he hesitantly looked at her then uttered. "I really thought that you like Natsu."

Juvia stiffened and a shock look crossed on her face. She didn't know how to answer that but he wasn't asking her a question anyway. He was just expressing his thoughts about her and Natsu. And it started to bother her making her fall in silence and contemplating the various feelings inside her.

"But if you already know about me and my girlfriend, then why did you still confess to me knowing that I will still reject you?"

She jerked faintly, snapping her out from her thoughts and subsequently released a sigh of relief, thanking that he diverted to another topic. Slowly taking a step forward, she softly smiled at him. She stared at his eyes and she felt proud at herself for finally being able to look at him in the eye even though her emotions were a mess right now.

"So that her feelings for you will be gone."

Gray was out of words as he just stared at her in bewilderment. Juvia slightly bowed down her head in a polite manner.

"Thank you for giving Juvia a chance to confess her feelings."

When she looked up at him, she flashed him a huge smile then started to walk off without waiting for his reply. She walked away from him, away from the lab and away from that precious moment as if she's telling a goodbye. Her pace was brisk as her heart was beating fast and soon its rhythm matched her pace. She already anticipated this outcome but somehow she felt a twinge of pain despite of that. She wanted to go home right away or maybe call Meredy. Stopping her tracks, she hastily took out her phone from her pocket and dialled her friend's number. To her dismay, Meredy was out of coverage. Walking in the hallway while ignoring the chatters and chortles of some students, she felt so alone. It felt like those times when she was all by herself in her classroom with no one interacting with her. All she did was pretending to be cocky when all she wanted was to make friends with them. She felt so lonely.

Just as she reached the stairs, she caught someone below standing near the staircase. Someone so familiar to her that she felt the urge to grab him right now.

"Natsu." Juvia whispered his name as she took a step down. But her feet stopped when she saw him laughing with someone. A girl with a white hair and dazzling smile. Lisanna Strauss—his crush. She felt her body hardened when Lisanna noticed her presence and without thinking clearly, she immediately ran away from them.

She didn't know why she ran away. Her heart was crazily palpitating that it hurt her chest. She couldn't make out the reason on why she just ran at the scene. And why it pained her seeing him laughing with Lisanna. This pain felt worse than the torture of confessing. Ignoring the weird looks from the people, she ran through the corridor and made her way to her classroom. As soon as she opened the door and entered, she hurriedly went to her seat and picked her bag. Thankfully, she was alone in the classroom. Perhaps she could just stay here and air out her vague feelings. Perhaps crying here could also ease her.

* * *

"So what do you want to tell me?" Lisanna was still smiling at him; the kind of smile that a flight attendant usually wears to entertain the passengers. And Natsu wondered if that smile would still remain if he spoke the next words.

"I actually like you." He directly said.

He watched her expression carefully. She blinked few times then her smile faltered and it totally dropped as she realized that he's being serious.

"I—I..Th-That was…Um…" Her face was beet red, eyes were wide open and she was stammering awfully. "This is too sudden! I—I was—wasn't prepared for this!"

"Sorry if I surprise you." He wryly smiled, scratching his nape. "But I just want to tell you that."

"Oh. Thank you. I…" she reluctantly looked at him and sighed. "I actually know about how you feel towards me since everyone kept on telling me…I appreciate your feelings Natsu but…I like someone and we're dating now.'"

Natsu frowned. "Why does it sound like you're rejecting me?"

She looked at him blankly. "I am rejecting you."

"I'm not asking you out. I just told you that I like you. And I didn't even mean it as more than friends."

Lisanna momentarily stared at him before her face flushed in mixture of embarrassment and anger resulting him to laugh. "Are you just making fun of me?!"

"Sorry Lis, it's just that you're funny!" He continued to laugh and then inhaled deeply, looking at her with an impertinent grin. "It's true that I got a crush on you before."

Her eyes narrowed at him. "I don't know what to react anymore."

"But I like someone now. I like her a lot more than a friend. But I don't know if she feels the same way…She likes Gray. In fact, she's gonna confess to her now."

Her expression was going from worry to astonishment. "Oh my gosh! You're in a heavy love triangle!"

Natsu inwardly gagged out at that thought. "Please. Stop using that word."

"Who's that girl? Do I know her? Is she your classmate? When did you start to like her?"

There was so many questions came out from her mouth and it took him hard to answer. He couldn't stop her from asking for she was so stubborn. Eventually he told her his story. He never had shared this problem from anyone, even from his friends, since their opinion was so nonsense to him. Maybe talking to a girl could help him. They were out of the canteen when Natsu started his story; from how she met the girl on a rainy afternoon to how they taunted and argued with each other yesterday. Lisanna was listening earnestly and sometimes make some remarks on how stupid he is or how cute when they interact. When Natsu was done, she finally questioned.

"So what are you gonna do afterwards? If…Gray would date her."

That thought somehow stung him a bit. Even though it has a small chance, the idea of Juvia and Gray together was a bad news for him.

"I don't know." He shrugged and heaved a sigh. "Maybe just support them and move on."

"But what if he wouldn't?"

"Then I'll tell her my feelings and make her the happiest girl in the world." He averred. Even though that was corny, he felt happy after saying it.

Lisanna giggled and smiled warmly. "That was cheesy but really good to hear. That girl would definitely sway when she heard that from you." Then a thought crossed her mind which made her eye him with a frown and place her hands on her hips."You know what, you kept on making her a blind item. Just who is that girl honestly?"

"Her name doesn't matter." He groaned then scratched the side of his cheeks. "Plus, it's embarrassing."

"Really. Like after you told me those cheesy things and now you're getting embarrassed."'

"It's fucking embarrassing when I told you that. How much if I even tell you her name!" he interjected harshly.

"Come on. Don't leave me hanging. We're gonna graduate soon." She pouted. "Fine. I'll tell you the guy that I've been dating. It's Bickslow."

"I'm not intere—what?!" His eyes almost bulged out from his sockets at hearing her boyfriend's name. "You're dating him?! Seriously?!"

She frowned at him, blush crept on her cheeks. "Yep. And why do people find it hard to believe that I dated him."

"Well...Maybe no one thought that would happen." He nervously chuckled. He, himself, couldn't believe it also that a girl like her would date a loud and weird former PE teacher in their school. And he's six years older than her. "How was sensei by the way?"

"He's doing good. He's coaching some junior high kids in baseba—wait, we're not going to this topic! Tell me the name of the girl!"

Natsu exhaled in frustration as he scratched his nape and glanced at her. "Juvia."

"Juvia Lockser?" Her eyes widened and her mouth hung open. "Seriously?!"

"Is it hard to believe that I like her?" He smirked at her.

And Lisanna smirked back. "Well. Maybe no one thought that would happen."

They laughed for a moment as they decided to head upstairs. Then suddenly Lisanna stopped and nudged his arms causing him to stop on his tracks also.

"Was that Juvia that I saw up there just a few seconds ago?" Lisanna asked, pointing at the empty spot on the stairs. Natsu scrunched his brow.

"Where is she?"

"She ran away." She said and looked at him. "I think you better go after her. She looked distracted."

"Right. Thanks."

Natsu left Lisanna as he began to run. His heartbeat was fast as he searched for the blue-haired person on the hallway and he successfully found her. Few meters ahead from him, he found Juvia running and entering their classroom. He didn't know why she was running like in a rush. Then his mind went back to her confession to Gray and he wondered if she succeeded. But he doubted it. Because if she did, Gray had to be there and there's no way she was running in the hallway. And if Gray did reject her, what would he do? He increased his sprint, felt his pulse rapidly pumping and stopped as soon as he entered the room. Then he called her.

"Juvia!"

* * *

Juvia turned her head to the direction of the familiar voice that called her name and found her friend who was leaning on his knees as he panted like a wild animal, sweat glistening on his face.

"Why are you running?" his voice sounded hoarse as he breathed heavily, eyes pierced on her.

Juvia inhaled sharply and pursed her lips tightly as she clutched the handle of her bag. Natsu slowly approached her, his intense gaze still fixated on her, making her feel somewhat wobbly.

"Did your confession go well?" He asked as soon as he stood closely in front of her.

Taking a deep breath, she shook her head in response and avoided his gaze. "No…Gray rejected Juvia."

A perturbed look crossed his face when she looked at him and gave him a reassuring smile. Though it didn't reach her eyes as her mind still tried to comprehend her feelings at the moment.

"It's actually fine. Juvia already predicted this so it doesn't hurt so much. Don't worry about this." She said but the words coming from her mouth felt so strange to her. She was really not okay right now. She didn't know why but by just looking at him, she couldn't feel okay.

"No, it's not fine. Being rejected is not fine so don't say it." Natsu said with a scowl. "I know you're not okay so if you want to cry then go on. I won't stop you."

"Juvia wouldn't cry for this." She adamantly said though she could feel her hands shaking for an uncertain reason so she balled it into fist.

"Stop being a stubborn idiot!"

The next thing he did caught her in surprise as he placed his hand on her head and pulled it to his chest, causing her to crash on his body. Juvia was too shock that she couldn't move and just feel the warmth of his body, smell the mixture of his mint cologne and body sweat and hear the rapid beating of his heart. For a moment she was scared—scared that her heart might beat louder than his. The proximity was dangerous to her yet the feeling was enticing and with that, she chose to savour this.

"Actually I hate to see you cry." She felt the vibration of his tone on his body and the soft caress of his hand on her head. "But this time, just let it out."

Sighing, Juvia leaned her head on his chest and relaxed at his soft touch on her locks. She felt so safe with him and as she stood there riskily close to him, realization finally dawn her. She dropped her bag and gripped the side of his uniform then closed her eyes as she relished this rare moment. A rare moment she feared that it might never happened again.

"I'm sorry."

She slowly opened her eyes and let out a soft sigh. "Don't be. It's not Natsu's fault anyway."

"I'm not talking about what happened to you and Gray."

Blinking, she looked up and met his ardent look. His obsidian eyes were focus on her and she could feel the tension of his muscles and quickening of his breath.

"This might be really selfish but…I..yeah…I want to be selfish right now. Just like what you did."

She froze on her spot, feeling her heart pounding heavily on her chest. The line felt so familiar and part of her wished that it was not what she was thinking.

"I like you Juvia…"

Eyes widening, her grip loosened and hands slowly fell on her side. Juvia felt her lips trembling as heart kept on throbbing loud and fast.

"I don't want you to be with Gray. Please…let me take care of you. Please go out with me."

That did it. The genuineness of his voice drove her over the edge. She took a step backward and watched his face contorted into a shock as if he didn't expect her reaction.

"H-hey…Why are you crying?..Juvia…"

His words felt so distant and her eyes were clouded with tears. She didn't want this. She didn't want him to have feelings on her.

"You shouldn't have said that."

As tears began to pour down, she didn't miss the crestfallen look on his face. And with that, she grabbed her bag and ran away from the classroom, ran away from him and ran away from everyone who casted her a concern look when they saw her in tears. Everything was so blurry to her except what she felt right now.

If only he didn't say that, she would not feel this way. She would not feel so lonely at the thought of him liking her knowing that she would leave this place. She would leave him and go far away. Now it would be too hard for her because she finally understood her feelings towards him.

She also fell for him.

And she wanted to be with him.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 **A/N**

 _Uh I know the ending here isn't good. But I'm so in great mood—because finally senpai notice me lol—that I'm having an urge to release the next chapter now. But no way, I have to leave you hanging for a week :P To those who reviewed on the previous chapter, thank you so much again and again!_

 _xoxo_


	8. Truth

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fairy Tail

* * *

 _ **Chapter 8**_

The sound of the rain made Natsu looked out the window. His eyes wandered at the group of elementary kids running and departing from an empty lot because of the sudden rain until one little girl tripped on the ground, mud dirtied her clothes. The little girl looked horrified momentarily when she saw the mess on her sky blue dress then began weeping like a baby, causing her companions to stop on running and come back to her. Natsu gritted his teeth and glanced away at the scene as he remembered what happened awhile ago at school. It was chaotic. His heart felt as though it was shattered when he saw Juvia running away from him and leaving him alone in the classroom. Unlike what happened to the little girl outside, he didn't cry. And Juvia didn't come back.

He couldn't believe his courage and his feelings were trampled and turned into a failure. And he couldn't shrug off his bothered feeling when he saw her crying. Was he rushing her? Was he making a mistake? If she didn't like him she could just tell him and turn him down directly but why would she cry?

 _She could just brutally reject me. Now she's making me feel bad._ He heaved a sigh.

Standing near the window of his room, he watched the rain heavily poured down on the ground. Rain reminded him of the very first time he talked to her. It just basically reminded him of her and when he thought of her, he went back thinking at the time she rejected him.

"Fuck!" He shut the curtains harshly and jumped on his bed. Grabbing a pillow, he placed it on his face and let out a muffled scream. When he was contented, he suddenly threw the pillow, hitting his comics and causing it to fall on the floor.

"Shit…So this is how it feels to be rejected."

He likes her a lot.

He felt so stupid for not understanding his emotions towards her earlier. Why the hell he felt peace when she's with him? Why the hell he keeps on doing things to her just to see her smile? Why the hell is he addicted to her smile? Why the hell he felt some funny feeling on his stomach whenever he thinks of her? He never bothered with those questions so his feelings grew towards her and then all of a sudden, he exploded and fell for her. How stupid of him. Now he knew why his friends call him an idiot. Everyone, even himself, admired his strong courage to do things. But he never thought that his courage can be also selfish. He could do things with optimism but he never bothered on questioning the other side.

And now for being so selfish, he earned tears from her instead of smile.

"Dammit!" he pounded his fist on the bed and startled when he heard a knock on his door.

"Natsu." The door opened revealing his elder brother wearing a knitted long sleeves and sweatpants. "Is everything alright?" Natsu didn't respond as his brother glanced at the mess on the floor. Without his little brother's permission, Zeref barged in and picked up his comics, placing it back to the shelf. Picking up the pillow from the floor, Zeref finally faced his brother and released a sigh.

"Why are you moping there?" he calmly asked.

"None of your business." Natsu grumbled.

"Is there a problem in your school? Did Gray or Erza beat you up again?"

"I said it's none of your fucking business." Natsu growled and turned to the other side to avoid looking at him. "Plus I won't get beaten up by that stripper."

"Really." Somehow Natsu could feel his brother smirking at him. "But your face looks like you're having some girl problem."

The pinkette slightly flinched at his brother's accurate inference and silently cursed because it was gone unnoticed by his nosy brother. "So this is a girl problem. Did you perhaps get rejected?"

Natsu turned to him, glaring daggers but Zeref remained unfazed, just crossing his arms and smirking in amusement. "I see. So you got rejected by Lisanna."

"I did'nt get rejected by Lisanna!" He snapped and sat up. "Well…Not by her."

Zeref's brow arched in mild interest so he leaned on the doorframe and stared at his brother pensively. "You asked some girl out. And not Lisanna." Natsu just sighed exasperatedly in response. His brother was always a nosy bitch to him and the more Natsu stop him, the more Zeref interrogate.

"And I guess you got turn down by that girl."

"Will you shut up and just get the fuck out of here!" Natsu threw another pillow to his brother but Zeref just caught it effortlessly and returned it back with force to Natsu's face which caused the pinkette to fall on his bed.

"Look what we have here. My little brother got turn down after confessing. Mom might be seeing this from heaven and probably laughing at you." Zeref said with a lopsided grin as he grabbed the chair near on his study table and sat on it.

"That's not funny." Natsu muttered in annoyance as he grabbed the pillow that was thrown to him and hugged it on his chest. "I just couldn't understand her reason. Why did she cry? Why did she say that?"

"She rejected you but you're still bothered as if you're not contended. Come on, Natsu. Don't be a poor loser and accept her answer with dignity."

"Of course I'm not! You don't understand." Natsu glared at the ceiling. "I told her that I like her but then…she cried and told me that I shouldn't have said that. I don't get it. I mean she could have just plainly rejected me and be mad at me. I just…don't want her to cry just because of me."

There was a pregnant pause between them. Only the sound of the pouring rain was heard in the background as Natsu thought about what happened while Zeref watched him in curiosity.

"That girl…Do I know her?" Zeref curiously asked while Natsu sighed, covering his eyes with his right arm.

"Sort of…I told you about her. You know…The girl who was with me at the concert."

"Oh." Natsu failed to see the knowing smile that spread across his brother's face. "You definitely like her. You can't stop talking about her that day like you are a lovestruck idiot."

"Shut up." Natsu groaned. "I fucking messed up today like so bad. She got rejected by her crush then I suddenly barged in and confessed to her."

"I see. So you were being insensitive and selfish that time. You did let out your feelings for her but you just gave her a burden. So basically, it's your fault. You don't know how to get a good timing little brother." His tone was a disappointing one and it made Natsu wince as if those words punched him. He hated to admit it but his brother was right. He did a wrong move.

"Just give her some time Natsu. Her mind was still a mess. Once she calms down and clears her mind, talk to her again."

"I know." Taking his arm from his eyes, he looked at Zeref. "Is it okay if I call her tonight? To apologize?"

His brother let out a gentle grin and calmly said. "You can but I doubt she will answer your call. Just don't pressure her on things."

"I won't." He narrowed his eyes towards his brother. "Were you always this calm when you confessed to Mavis?"

Before Zeref closed the door and walked away, he chuckled and said to him. "Nope. It was hell and I did some stupid things too. But unlike you, I know how to pick a good timing."

He flashed a smirk and Natsu just rolled his eyes at his brother's cockiness. As soon as the door shut, Natsu got up and reached his phone on the table. The rain had finally stopped. Perhaps it was his cue to call her.

* * *

"I can't believe you just did that to him." Meredy said as she wrapped herself with a blanket and sent a disapproving look to Juvia who was squatting across her, looking bewildered.

"You are supposed to side with Juvia!" The bluenette chided, hugging her pillow tightly on her chest.

The heavy rain didn't stop Meredy's plan to visit Juvia after receiving so many messages from the bluenette. And it shocked the pinkette when a puffy eyed Juvia welcomed her on the door. She suddenly felt guilty for not noticing her friend calling her on the phone when Juvia finally told her what happened at the school especially the confession part. However, her guilt was instantly vanished when Juvia shared the unexpected confession of Natsu.

"I don't want to be bias with you Juvie. But that guy…" Meredy stretched her legs on the floor and reached her orange juice. "He genuinely likes you. I don't see other guys liking you like how he likes you. I mean, no offense, you're socially awkward and sometimes bitchy to others. And some guys just like you because you got that big bust."

Juvia threw her pillow at the pinkette but alas, she missed. "Leave Juvia's bust out—"

"And you're also stupid especially at dealing emotions." Meredy interrupted and took a sip of her juice. "But Natsu is also an idiot so that makes the two of you a cute pair."

Juvia frowned. "You're not helping Juvia."

"Come on, Juvia. What I'm trying to tell you is he's a good guy." Meredy said with a dramatic gesture of her hands. "He might be kind of an idiot sometimes but he's caring and reliable. I told you that we were classmates before and he's the type of guy that you could always count on and would never let you down. He's like a typical main character in a shounen anime who would do everything by the power of friendship and love. And people, especially girls, like a dependable guy."

"Juvia knows that." The bluenette feebly said and brought her knees against her pillow.

"So it's okay if you tell him how you really feel for him." Meredy gently smiled while Juvia just felt her face beginning to warm at the thought of Natsu. "At least give him a proper reply Juvia. But you like him so much. Why can you just hook up with him already?"

Her cheeks coloured even more as she flustered. "You know that it's not possible!"

"Oh come on. He likes you and you like him too. So why not?" Juvia just gave her a scowl; blush still remained while Meredy blew out a sigh. "You're worried about long distance relationship."

Juvia's face softened then turned into an anxious look as she buried her face to her knees. "It will be complicated."

"Nothing will be complicated if you will not complicate things." Meredy stood up still wrapping the blanket around her and went to get her bag at the desk. "If I were you, you better tell him about your plan. That you're gonna migrate to other country. Don't leave him in a mess Juvie. At least be proper and—aha! We better watch this movie!" Meredy pulled out a romcom flick from her bag. "So yeah. Where was I? Uh yeah, you better tell him the truth Juv."

"Yeah but—" Juvia was interrupted by the ring of her phone and as she took it and looked at the caller, her heart skipped, making her gasp and almost drop her phone.

"Who's that?"

Juvia looked at Meredy in fear and uttered. "Natsu."

Meredy's eyes broadened before a smile and squeal broke from her mouth. "You better answer it dammit!"

"B-but!" Without warning, Meredy rapidly snatched her phone and pressed the answer button and with a wicked grin, she handed it to the bluenette who was in panic mode. "Answer it!", she mouthed.

"No!" she whispered, frantically shaking her head and refusing to speak while Meredy kept on gesturing her to answer.

" _Juvia?"_

His raspy voice made her stop. Juvia literally froze on her spot until Meredy took her hand and place her phone there. With a wave, Meredy went out of the room leaving Juvia with a phone on her hand all alone while nervously listening on the other line.

" _Please don't end the call. I just want to talk and apologize. Please listen."_

* * *

" _Natsu."_

Natsu couldn't shrug the funny feeling he had on his stomach and erratic throbbing of his heart when he heard the sound of his name tumbling from her lips. This was just like how he feels when he was searching for his name on the list of examinees that passed the entrance exam of the university. But this one was more daunting.

"Juvia. Um…" Natsu inwardly cursed for hastily making a call without planning. Now he forgot what he was going to say. _Fuck fancy words. Just tell her you're sorry._

"Look. I'm sorry. I'm deeply sorry about what I…what I said to you awhile ago…Back at school." Gripping the phone tightly, he stood up from his bed and went to the balcony to breathe some air. The rain finally stopped and he shivered at the cold breeze that brushed his skin. Looking at the dark empty sky, he continued;

"I was being rush and was only thinking at myself…I was being fucking selfish that time a-and..I'm so sorry for that! But…" The cold breeze didn't help him to calm his nervous feeling and it made him sweat even more. Wiping the cold sweat on his face, he inhaled sharply.

"I want to tell you that I was—I was being honest with you okay. I mean those..those times when we were together—you know…Shit." His eyes instantly grew wide and he smacked his head for swearing. "I'm not swearing at you okay! Dammit…I thought this would be easy."

He never thought that explaining his feelings towards her was so difficult. How did he manage to tell her that he likes her back at school? Where was his cool manner that he just had back then? But thought of him speaking to her in person was more terrifying than talking to her in phone at this moment. Shaking away his thoughts and inhaling deeply, he leaned on the wet banister and spoke again.

"What I'm trying to say is…I was not faking when I told you that I want to be friends with you…But I honestly never expect that I will fall for you. I didn't know about that until yesterday…I finally figured out that I like you. I really like you Juvia…more than a friend." Though he felt extremely embarrassed right now, there was no response on the other line and it made his anxiety grew bigger. Despite of that he still continued.

"So I'm sorry if I'm giving you a burden…I'm annoying you again. And I'm sorry that I…I hurt you."

"Natsu…Can we.."

He jolted and leaned his ear even more on his phone as he waited for her words. The anticipation of what she was going to say was nearly killing him.

"Can—Can we meet tomorrow?...Juvia wants to tell you something."

He blinked a few seconds, then uttered. "Sure…What time?"

His mood somehow brightened as if he found hope at the moment when Juvia told her the time and place. When she ended the call, his hope suddenly vanished as a thought popped out on his mind. _What the fuck am I expecting? Of course she's gonna turn me down properly tomorrow. Don't get your hopes up idiot._ Now it made him more nervous at just thinking of their talk tomorrow.

" _Don't be a poor loser and accept her answer with dignity."_

His brother's words suddenly reverberated on his head. Sighing, he went back to his room and flopped on his bed.

"Guess it's time for me to grow up."

* * *

Juvia pressed the end call button and held her phone tightly. She could feel her face warming as she stood at the balcony of her room while looking at the dark sky. The clouds were still thick, blocking the stars but the moon was finally visible.

" _I was not faking when I told you that I want to be friends with you…But I honestly never expect that I will fall for you."_

She chewed on her lip as those words echoed on her head.

" _I finally figured out that I like you. I really like you Juvia…more than a friend."_

Her hand instantly flew to her chest and felt the loud pounding of her heart. Shaking her head, she breathed in and out to compose herself, making sure that her face was not warm and red or else Meredy would tease her for the whole night. She then went back inside of her room and saw Meredy donning a plain white tshirt and checkered pajama which she randomly got from her closet and holding a bowl of fries on her hand while watching a variety show on TV. Her friend decided to stay over since it's late in the evening. When the pinkette finally glanced at her, she gave her an expectant look.

"So what happened? Did he seriously apologize?"

"Yeah." Juvia squatted next to her and took some fries on the bowl. "Where's the movie that we must watch?"

"Later. Tell me more. Did you tell him that you also like him?" Her eyes were wide with inquisitiveness, anticipating at Juvia's reply. And the blush of the bluenette's cheeks confirmed her thoughts. "Ohh! So you're together now?!"

"Don't be stupid! It's not what you think!" Juvia chided and reached the remote control to change the channel. "Juvia's gonna see Natsu tomorrow. Juvia will tell him everything. It's kinda improper for Juvia to tell it to him through a phone call. And…" Her cheeks clouded again with blush again as she said the next words.

"Juvia wanted to spend time with him once more."

To her surprise, her friend squealed and let out a giddy smile while pounding the pillow on Juvia's arms making the bluenette look at her in horror and anger.

"H-hey! Meredy!" she snapped as Meredy finally stopped and laughed.

"You know what, there will be no more movie marathon tonight. You need some beauty rest. Good thing I'm here and I can help you out tomorrow." Meredy said with a large grin on her face.

Juvia just gave her a confusing look. "What are you talking about?"  
Rolling her eyes, Meredy answered. "You're gonna have a date tomorrow so rest and save some energy!"

"It's not a date!" she interjected.

"Whatever! Turn off the TV and go to sleep. We can still extend our girls' night tomorrow and we must make sure our other friends will join us."

Juvia couldn't believe she's bossing her like her mom but when Meredy finally prepared their beds and excitingly told her about the do's and don'ts on tomorrow's so called date and the outfit that she must wear, Juvia just ignored her blabber and felt thankful towards her friend instead. She made a mental note to give her some nice gift before she departed.

* * *

Natsu was twenty minutes earlier at the said time when he arrived at the cat café, their meeting place. From their previous conversations on his phone—those times before the confession stuff exploded— Juvia had mentioned that she likes cats so he wasn't surprised when she told him to meet her here. He was also early not because he was somewhat thrilled to see her but because he was feeling agitated at the thought of seeing her. And at the thought of a brutal rejection. Natsu groaned as he ran his fingers through his hair and diverted his anxious thoughts by thinking about the day of his graduation. The day after tomorrow would be the official ending of his high school life. Another new chapter would begin but somehow, he didn't feel motivated.

Probably because his high school ending was bad.

Probably because his expectations were not met.

Probably because at the thought of brutal rejection that would happen later.

Natsu groaned once again in frustration as he couldn't stop thinking about it.

Looking at his surroundings, he sighed when he saw only two customers on the table near the veranda chatting casually, a cashier tediously staying on the counter while scheming at her phone and a staff bringing some food to feed the cats. There are four audiences here and he thanked the heavens for not making this place so crowded. He didn't want to have many people witness his walk of shame after Juvia turn him down.

"Meow."

His eyes blinked at the strange cat which was sprawled on his table. Now he got six audiences. The cat got a strange blue fur that just reminded him of the female bluenette and a collar on its neck with a "Happy" carved on its tag. The cat was staring at him as if expecting him to do something. With a smile, he caressed the cat's neck while the cat purred in delight.

"Happy. What a name you have." He said and the cat meowed back making him chuckle. "And you got a blue hair just like hers."

The chiming of bells made his eyes darted at the front door. And there she was, entering the café with grace and politely greeting the staff, who was petting a cat, as if she was used to it. She then turned her head to her left and spotted him. All Natsu could do was just stare at her in enchantment while his hand continuously stroked the cat. Her blue hair was neatly tied into a pony tail and it was his first time seeing her with that hairstyle, causing him to be more enthralled at her. Her creamy shoulders were exposed because of her navy blue off-shoulders blouse and unlike before at the concert, her legs where covered with her stylish white skinny jeans. She looked so good to him that he became aware at his outfit and somewhat felt embarrassed and underdressed at his plain white shirt and black jeans. If it wasn't for the cat suddenly biting him, he might forget to breathe and stop staring at her. So he redirected his attention to the cat with a glare.

"D-Does Juvia looks okay with this?"

Natsu blinked in surprise and looked at her when he realized that the object of his affection was now standing in front of him, giving him a nervous look and asking him a question. He took a closer look at her and noticed that she's wearing a light make-up which perfectly matches her face. His mouth opened at last but unfortunately, no words came out, making himself look like an idiot.

"Juvia feels uncomfortable with people's stares. This is a bad idea." She muttered and was about to grab the tie of her hair when Natsu caught her arm causing her to yelp in surprise.

"No! You look pretty. Damn pretty…It's almost surprising." He said with a heavy breath, eyes fixed on her while heart beat fast. Pretty. That word was an understatement. It took him a strong willpower to stop himself from grabbing her, telling her that she's so fucking beautiful and kicking those people's asses for ogling at her. No. He had to restrain himself.

"Um thanks..." she shyly said as her blush began spreading on her cheeks. "Can you let go of Juvia's arm?"

Natsu instantly detached his grasp and rubbed the back of his head in awkwardness. "Sorry."

Juvia sat down across him and eyes immediately sparkled when she saw the cat on the table eyeing her. "Happy!"

A wide smile formed on her mouth as the cat jumped merrily on her lap. Natsu watched in awe as she began petting the cat childishly while the cat kept on rubbing its head against her. Now he felt irritated looking at the cat being lavished by Juvia's warmth and he carelessly wished that he was that cat….The thought mortified and embarrassed him, feeling his face burn in shame. _What the fuck was that?!_

"So…" Natsu cleared his throat awkwardly, trying to start the talk and escape his inappropriate fantasies. "What do you want to tell me?"

He saw her stiffened fleetingly and she gently placed the cat beside her as she settled her bag on her lap. Juvia looked at him, chewing on her lip which caused him to clench his jaw. Whatever it was she was going to say, he had to relax and maintain cool.

"Juvia is sorry for what she just did at school yesterday." She started, making him surprise.

"Look. It was me who should say sorry…" He inhaled deeply, gazing down at his knuckles. "Like I said yesterday, I was being reckless again and just gave you some troublesome."

"It wasn't a troublesome…Your feelings were not troublesome." He looked up and stared at her in perplexity.

"What do you mean? I did hurt you yesterday."

"Well part of it was your fault. You did hurt Juvia but not entirely." She lowered her gaze and a small smile appeared on her face as she continued. "Honestly, Juvia was happy knowing that you like Juvia. Juvia really appreciate your feelings."

Natsu's jaw hardened. _So this is part where I'm gonna be turn down for real._

"And Juvia also…likes you..a lot…" She twirled her locks as her next words followed in a soft and slow manner. "…more than a friend."

He froze for a moment, letting his mind processed what she just said. The way her shy face looked at him with uncertainty confused him so he opened his mouth to speak but was not able to form some words. Once again, he made himself look like an idiot.

Her blush was darker as she continued, avoiding his eye contact. "But Juvia doesn't know if this will work out."

He blinked for a second before he finally uttered a word. "What?"

Meeting his gaze, sadness crossed her face as she spoke. "Juvia will migrate to other country with her mom. Juvia's dad began working abroad when she started going to school and she rarely spend time with him. Dad saved up money and processed some documents for our relocation and for my university. Juvia wants to be with Dad this time and she will study at her dream university too. And…" She paused and released a sigh. "Juvia's flight will be the day after the graduation."

"What?" he repeated in a low voice. He was too shock at what he just heard. For a moment, he was still and quiet on his seat that he could only hear the soft music playing at the background and the crying sound from the cats in the café.

"Juvia will leave this town. Juvia will leave you."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 **A/N**

 _Yooo! Thank you for reading! The day of their graduation is coming, meaning this story is reaching its end. :( I still have to edit again the final chap and maybe find some proof-reader. I kept rewriting it but I still find the ending sooo lame to read. Anyways, I got some bad news. I couldn't update this next week or maybe two to three weeks. I'll be going somewhere with my fam tomorrow (and this will be my last vacay before I start to face the real world) and I won't bring my laptop cause it's heavy and I'm lazy (ugh I can't write something if I don't use my laptop) and I doubt that there would be wi-fi or internet connection at my destination (that's what my mother told me. What a pain.). Please be patient for the next chapter. I shall return!_

 _xoxo_


	9. Memories

**Disclaimer** : I don't own Fairy Tail

* * *

 ** _Chapter 9_**

Juvia shifted on her seat uncomfortably as Natsu stared at her; shock painted on his face. She looked up at him, hoping that somehow she would be able to discern the thoughts that were surely racing inside of his mind. But sadly, she couldn't and her heart kept on racing fast out of apprehension. No matter how many times she practiced herself on talking to him in front of the mirror before she went out of the house, she still wasn't fully equipped to handle the outcome.

"You're gonna go to other country and leave us…" Natsu trailed off and she could sense the dejection of his voice.

Lowering her gaze, she nodded slowly then a moment of silence aroused between them. It was intense and bleak thus she blamed herself for it. She knew this was the right thing to do although it made her feel unhappy about this. There are many reasons why she didn't want other people to know that she's leaving. She disliked saying goodbyes as if she won't ever come back. Watching other people shedding tears for her just made her worry. And leaving those important people in her life gave her heart some burdens. She detested this feeling at all.

A small laugh escaped from his lips and Juvia looked up and saw him placing his palm on his face.

"I really don't want to believe what you just said."

Juvia felt a pang on her chest and stared at him for a moment. She could feel a painful lump forming in her throat and forced herself to remain calm as much as possible. The last thing she wants right now was to cry in front of him.

"But it's the truth… Juvia isn't lying."

"Is that the reason why you told me that I shouldn't have confessed to you? That you ran away and left me?"

Natsu was now gazing at her, his hand placed on his forehead and solemn eyes pierced her. For a moment, he appeared torn between anger and sorrow. Juvia on the other hand avoided his gaze and didn't speak instead she gradually nodded and turned her gaze at the cat that nuzzled beside her.

"Fuck it! Why did you not tell me about this?" He suddenly slammed his hand on the table, startling her.

"Natsu never asked. And Juvia had no plan to talk about this." She feebly replied, caressing Happy's neck in a slow manner.

"So why are you telling me this now? Earlier you just told me you like me and then suddenly you're gonna leave me? How am I fucking supposed to react with that?"

"You can react whatever you want."

"Stop bullshitting me! You're being hard on yourself! I just..I really don't get it…" His words faded off; his eyes full of mixed emotions as he looked at her. "You could have just told me everything before. Why now?"

"Because Juvia doesn't want this!"

Her yell caught him off guard as it made his jaw slackened slightly. The cashier even glanced at them and if it wasn't for the new customer inquiring about something on the menu, she would probably continue on watching their drama.

"Juvia doesn't want to tell you about her relocation and wanted to keep it a secret to everyone because…" she paused in reluctance, drawing in a deep breath and fixed her gaze at the empty frap on the table. "She didn't want to leave with messed up feelings from the people she adores. It's also hard for me."

"So you're just gonna leave us without giving us reason? That's fucking stupid and selfish."

"Juvia is selfish and yes, she would do that. Until Juvia met you, Natsu." She slowly said then locked her gaze to Natsu as her heart pounded heavily on her chest, feeling her palm sweating out of tenseness.

The feeling was just like the time when she confessed to Gray. But that one was also different. Her confession to him was for this selfish reason that she could air out her pent-up feelings then move on because in the first place, she already knew she couldn't have him and he wouldn't reciprocate his feelings to her. But this. With Natsu… This one was more difficult.

"Juvia thought it is okay to leave those people in school since she only got few friends and she wasn't too attached with anyone except for her circle of friends. Befriending people is a tiresome job to Juvia that time but it was just an excuse to her be-because…she didn't know how to connect with others specifically to strangers…" Her brows creased uneasily as she fleetingly remembered those awkward times of her school life. "Juvia was always misunderstood by everyone..yeah she was, that's why she built walls and carefully chose those people who she wants to get inside of her space. But Natsu suddenly came and… and that afternoon. That rainy afternoon." That memory transiently flashed on her mind and it somehow comforted her. A reflective smile tugged on her lips at that brief moment as she continued to divulge what she feels towards him.

"You came and grab me while Juvia was drenching herself from sadness. You then introduced Juvia to your friends who she found wonderful. You even gave Juvia an opportunity to talk to Gray. Juvia was happy that many people finally interacted with her. You were there for her, annoying her, talking to her, texting her until dawn and even calling her sometimes at midnight. There are so many words that I could describe those moments that Juvia had with Natsu: from awkward to sweet and many more. Natsu, you have no idea how those things that you did…mean so much to me. You made Juvia…really happy."

Feeling her stomach twisting in a knot, she shyly peered at his expression turning into a genuine shock for a minute. On the other hand, Natsu could feel his heartbeat drumming loud at what he just heard. He was stunned at how she had been so bold to speak what she felt towards him and her words sent some warmness within him. His shock then slowly dissipated and replaced by a rueful smile. To her relief, she exhaled deeply realizing that she's been holding her breath.

"Same goes for me." He confided in a low and even voice.

The two of them continued to gaze at each other for a while then heat started to rush on their cheeks. The bluenette felt her heart palpitating fast even more and couldn't stop the stormy feeling on her stomach at just watching Natsu blatantly blushing in front of her.

"Y-you're blushing." She stuttered.

Frowning, he snarled. "Look who's talking!"

Surprised, she pressed her palm on her cheeks firmly and felt the heat. "Juvia is sorry!"

"Why are you saying sorry?" He let out a lopsided grin, placing his palm on his forehead and not concealing his blush. "Go on. I still hadn't heard everything you want to tell me."

"It's..It's enough! And it's embarrassing already!"

"You're not the only one who feels embarrassed here! Let's just embarrassed ourselves even more and settle this."

"You know the point of what Juvia was saying!"

"Hey. I don't want to misunderstand something here. So just say it."

Natsu knew that already but he just wanted to hear those words once again coming from her mouth just to be clear. Juvia chewed on her lip and looked anywhere but him. She could picture herself looking like a tomato at how red her face right now.

"Juvia wanted to tell you that she began to like you unconsciously and then yesterday…she was sure that she likes you… She likes Natsu so much." The last part sounded like a squeak. Casting a glance at him, she saw him biting his lips to control himself, still blushing darkly. "Everything became hard for Juvia because she didn't plan this. And then Natsu confessed and made her situation difficult for her…To tell you honestly, Juvia would rather be heartbroken or rejected…than leave the person who became very significant to Juvia."

There was a heavy silence between them as the pair pondered on the situation. Juvia felt the weighty feeling in her heart lightened after saying all those things to Natsu. Now she wondered how Natsu would take this. When Natsu revealed that he likes her the other day, she was petrified. All she was thinking back then was the pain of leaving him and the possible future of her…without him. But for this moment, she had to live in the present. As long as he's here with her right now, she had to savour every moment with him. After a few minutes, Natsu released a sigh and nestled his palm on his cheek.

"This is fucking crazy. I don't know if I'm gonna be happy or sad about this knowing that you like me back and then…you're gonna leave. For real." All of a sudden, he took his frap and finished it in one gulp. After slamming it back on the table, he gave her a frown. "Since I can't be happy or sad then let me be angry at you. You could have just told me about this before. I could have made your last days here more awesome!"

"Juvia is really sorry if she didn't tell you earlier." She sincerely said. At the back of her mind, she wondered if things would turn different if she told him the truth before. Would he still like her if she told him that she's going to leave? And would she still fall for him if things were different?

"You mentioned that you want to study at your dream school." She almost jumped at his sudden question. Clearing her throat, Juvia nodded.

"Yes. Luckily, Juvia got a scholarship there to support her studies."

"That's cool. Though it sucks that you'll gonna go somewhere far, I'm happy that you're chasing your dreams."

The way he spoke it was so genuine that it made her heart wrenched. It still hurt to leave this guy behind but now she had said those things that she wanted to say to him, perhaps things would turn out fine. The clock struck at 1:13 pm and the place became crowded by a group of junior high girls entering the café. The staff became busy so as the cashier at entertaining the boisterous customers which the pair found annoying.

"How about we go to other places and hang out? Instead of moping here let's just make some new memories."

Juvia looked at Natsu who was grinning at her and giving her a hopeful look. Her face brightened with a smile and she responded.

"Sure. Juvia thought you would never ask that."

They stood up and Juvia kissed the sleeping Happy on the head before they walked out on the Café.

* * *

"Sooo…Where do you want to go?" Natsu asked Juvia when they arrived at the mall.

"Juvia is not sure…" She creased her brows, thinking of a place they wanted to hang out. "Juvia didn't actually prepare for this."

"Can't blame you though. This is unexpected." Natsu chuckled as he ran his fingers through his pink locks.

Juvia broodingly watched him as he stood there, crossing his arms while casually looking at the people passing by at the area. He had been unusually quiet on their way here at the mall, more likely distracted, and she felt awkward and disconcerted with it. Looking at the poster near them, an idea entered her mind and she earnestly hoped that this will break the awkwardness on their atmosphere.

Lightly tugging the hem of his shirt, he flinched a little and snapped his head to her, making her brow arched. "Uh…You have an idea?"

"Maybe we can watch this movie." She pointed at the movie poster and his brow rose in interest seeing the poster.

"Hmm. Looks cool. Never thought you would watch that kind of genre."

"Juvia likes the actress there. Maybe this is fun."

"Okay." He let out a crook smile but she could sense a bit of edginess on it. "Shall we go now?"

Juvia narrowed her eyes at him. "Just a minute. Juvia wants to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"Are you okay?" she asked directly and saw him flinch.

"I'm fine!" Now he looked defensive to her.

She didn't know if the whole hanging out thing bothered him so much. As much as she wanted to do this just to spend time with him, she didn't want to be inconsiderate and force him to go with her if he's not fine with it in the first place.

"You don't look fine." Juvia sighed despondently, putting her right hand on her left elbow and focused her eyes on the poster. "If Natsu doesn't want this, then Juvia must not force him to."

"I did not fucking say that I don't want this! I should not have suggested this if I don't want to!" Juvia jerked at his sudden outburst and when she shifted her gaze to look at him, her face turned into a surprise.

Natsu's expression was more frustrated than angry but the thing that caught her attention was the brutal blush shading his cheeks. He wasn't looking directly at her as he ruffled his hair.

"I hate to admit this but I feel conscious of you right now…Knowing that you already know that…you know..,Fuck do I have to say it?..I like you dammit…" His eyes slowly looked at her and when he met her look, he instantly turned around. "Let's go now and buy some tickets."

Juvia quickly grasped his arm, making him jolt and look at her, his blush still visible. She could feel herself flushing too so she looked at his hair instead of his eyes. "Um..Juvia is also embarrassed at this…She's not…good at this…stuff."

This was awkward. She was not sure if she could call this a date or just hang out. _But date is hanging out right? With your lover? But Natsu is not her...lover? But we like each other!_ Her thoughts made her more confused and it's not helping her. She shook her head to clear those thoughts.

"Then you're unlucky right now."

She finally looked up at him as he spoke sheepishly, scratching his cheek. "I'm not also good at this stuff. Plus I feel unusually conscious around you. You see….I just don't want to mess this date with you."

Her heart skipped at the mention of "date" and surely, she didn't restrain herself from blushing again and smiling. "Let's just be who we are and enjoy this day. Natsu mentioned awhile ago that we have to make new memories. So we must enjoy ourselves."

She could feel his muscle relaxed on her grasp and a huge grin broke out from his lips. "You're right. We better hurry now or we'll miss the movie."

And grabbing her wrist, he walked fast and she staggered behind him. But unlike before, there were no protests coming from her mouth instead she was smiling behind him.

* * *

The movie was an action genre telling about villains gathering together to save the world. While Natsu was ecstatic at the middle of the movie, commenting, laughing and cursing at some stupidities of the characters, Juvia remained quiet, hand and mouth busy on their shared pop corn. When the movie finally ended, the pair was dissatisfied. They listened at some people sharing oohs and ahhs and nice reviews at the movie as they exited the cinema while they just walked in silence. As soon as they were out and far away at the theater, Natsu started.

"That was meh."

"Agree."

"Did we just watch a movie intended for kids? I thought that was R-16."

"We are still kids. But at least the actress that Juvia likes nailed her character."

"That. I'll give the movie 3 stars because of her. She's hot." Natsu said, flashing a wolfish grin temporarily, and then released a grunt when they arrived at the terrace of the mall. "That was disappointing. And that was our first movie together!"

Juvia sighed. "Sorry."

"It's not your fault Juv." He said with a comforting grin that shifted into a sneer as he continued. "It's the fault of the director and scriptwriter of the movie. We need a refund."

"But Juvia actually chose it because…" Rubbing her palms, she felt nervous and diverted her look at the fountain outside. "She thought you like action and superhero movies…And you look uneasy awhile ago...Juvia thought that would lighten up your mood."

There was a moment of silence and Juvia didn't dare to look at him. Though, she could see his face in her peripheral vision but chose to focus on the fountain with a feign interest. Because his face was beet red, the only thing she could do was to spare their selves from another embarrassing and awkward moment.

"Fuck! Dammit Juvia! You're making me look so lame!"

Horrified, Juvia sprang her head to him. "That's why Juvia is sorry!"

"No! That's not what I mean!" He inhaled deeply to compose himself and looked at her once again with much intensity. "This day, you don't have to think about what I want. Let this day be all about _you_ and I'm cool with it. Let's forget about the movie, we could still watch another one next time." The two of them flinched at the last part, realizing that next time was not nearly possible for them. "Okay! Now where do _you_ like to go right now? It's still 3:00 pm."

"Hmm…" Juvia pondered for a moment and recalled the places she once listed at her diary that she wanted to go. Her eyes sparkled and finally, she knew where the place was.

* * *

Juvia was beaming broadly at the sight in front of her. The animal mascots that were selling something like candies and balloons, the sight of food stalls, families and friends walking and enjoying the area, and lastly the rides that always captivate her; This is the place that she likes to visit, regardless of being crowded, because the ambience around is enjoyable and inviting. Amusement park never failed to make her smile.

"Let's go!" Juvia marched forward excitingly at the entrance but stopped on her tracks when she noticed that her _date_ was not following her. Wondering why, she whipped her head around and saw him frozen in pure horror. She then walked back to him, looking perturbed.

"Are you okay?" she asked in concern but more in curiosity.

Watching his adam's apple bobbing as if he was swallowing something hard, Natsu slowly looked at her with flat affect. "I'm fine."

"Yeah you are. Look at your pale face." She sarcastically said. "…Are you perhaps afraid of rides?"

"Of course not!" He growled. "It's a piece of shit! What about you? You afraid of rides?"

Liar. She inwardly smirked. "Juvia likes theme park rides so much. Come on, let's get inside now."

Juvia grabbed his wrist this time and felt his pulse thumping fast. He told her that they should go to a place that she really likes so he had no choice but to bear with her. She admired this place very much and she wanted to spend her time here with Natsu even if the latter is terrifed with those rides. It could be amusing to see him shaking in this jolly place. They trod forward and stopped at the centre square where she could see the roller coaster, pirate ship, Ferris wheel, carousel and many more on her sight, making her more puzzled on which one to ride first. Glancing at her nervous companion, she asked for a suggestion but he just replied "Anything is cool."

So for starters, she went to roller coaster, her favourite. They bought two tickets and fell in line as they waited for their turn. Juvia cast some looks to Natsu who was looking edgy at the moment and it worried her.

"Do you hate rides?" she asked and he stared at her for a moment.

"Well sort of." He replied and looked at her with a sheepish grin. "I can't handle most of the rides since I had some…well don't tell anybody about this—I had some motion sickness. I'm really weak at transportation. Well I can handle car and bus—depends on the travel distance—but with trains, ships, planes and especially these rides, I get…easily queasy."

Her eyes widened in surprise. She never thought that an active guy like him can be weak at rides. It was actually the last thing that she was expecting.

"So aside from Math, you're weak in transportations." She pointed as if she had discovered something amazing.

"Hey don't point out my weakness in Math."

"But Natsu, if you can't handle this then we can just abort and look some rides that are not so nauseating. Perhaps those kiddie rides are good for you." She grinned with a hint of mocking tone.

Sensing her sarcasm, he sneered. "You want me to ride Merry Go Round? No thanks. Let's try this ride here. This is just a small thing."

"Really? Then let's try some two rides there also." She pointed at the pirate ship and UFO and that made him stiffened.

"I think I'm already good with this one here."

"Only one? Come on, don't be a loser." She simpered.

"Fine! I'll ride everything here!"

And it was now their turn to ride the roller coaster. Juvia was excited for two things; first, she could ride roller coaster again and second, she wondered how Natsu, who was still and quiet, will handle this ride of terror. When the engine started to move, a huge smile plastered on Juvia's face while her companion remained catatonic on his seat. And she didn't miss the tightening of his grip at the lapbar. It was invigorating and thrilling when they went up and the terrifying part started when they finally went down at fast speed then went up again, turning them spiral and upside down. Screams sounded in the air and Juvia conformed with the passengers as she raised her arms in the air and shrieked at the top of her lungs, enjoying the exotic moment. Her companion, on the other hand, regretted his choice and wished that he chose the Merry Go Round instead of this. The feeling was heart-racing, horrifying as they went up and down and Juvia finally knew how Natsu would scream in horror. She definitely heard him calling his mom and brother. Once their done, Juvia helped Natsu, who was petrified, on getting out from his seat. His face looked so pale with a facial expressin that looks like he's having a constipation and she had to suppress herself from laughing. She even congratulated him for a guy like him who got a motion sickness, survived this ride without barfing.

The next one looked easy for Natsu as it was just a huge pirate ship. It was more like a kiddie ride for him. However, Juvia liked this pendulum ride so when she saw Natsu looking relaxed as he settled on his seat near the edge, she stifled a laugh. The ride finally started and the ship swing back a little slow at first then goes down causing Natsu to grip tightly on the lapbar. Juvia gripped at the lapbar too and glanced at Natsu whose eyes ready to bulge out when their side began to pull backwards again and much higher. The moment it went down without warning, Juvia screamed and laughed while Natsu screamed in horror once again. And he thought that was just that but it wasn't. The ride kept on going back and forth again; sending them up then down with height became higher and fall became deeper. Natsu was screaming profanities while Juvia screamed some incoherent words and held Natsu's cold hand when they fell down at the last second. Once it was over, Juvia took Natsu's hand and guided him out of the ride because the latter looked as if the soul in his body has seeped out.

The third one was really difficult for Natsu: the UFO ride. Just the sight of a giant spinning circle made him want to throw up right away. Juvia told him that it's okay for them to abort and stop but it somehow hurt the man's pride, thinking that he would really look weak if he won't ride that. They took a rest for a few minutes and Juvia bought a ticket while Natsu went to the men's comfort room to release the sick feeling coming from his stomach. It took him a great amount of willpower to not throw up during riding those two rides. He would never do it for it will make him so lame in front of his date.

Afterwards Natsu decisively went to the UFO and was shocked to see that there were no restraints. Juvia began explaining her about the mechanics and physics of the ride—which he found useless because it was still confusing to him anyway—and reassured him that he's not going to fall but rather be mashed against the wall. It sounded frightening but knowing that she had ridden this many times, he placed his trust on her. So when the operator started the engine, Juvia startled when Natsu caught her hand and held it tightly. Their back slammed against the padded wall as the spinning became rapid. Everything around them was spinning, screams filling the air and then it seemed like the gravity had pinned them at the wall. Juvia's hand was still attached to Natsu whose eyes shut very tightly and her other hand gripped the bar tightly. Conversely, Natsu felt his mind spinning, stomach twisting and head pounding in nausea and this was truly a definition of hell for him. After that moment of spinning which seems like very long to him, the engine slowly stopped. And once it was done, Juvia was surprised when Natsu immediately groggily dashed out of the cage and pushed people out of his way. She followed him abruptly and went down on the ladder, searching for him. There she saw him throwing up on a garbage bin near the ticket booth. People were glancing at him, some looking concerned while the others snickering. Juvia then approached him with a worried look and when she was close to him, she started rubbing his back as he brashly retched. It took almost two minutes for him to finish and he panted heavily while wiping his mouth with his red handkerchief, his back still facing her.

"Juvia is so sorry for forcing you." Juvia said in remorse, her hand still rubbing his back in a gentle way.

"Dammit…I will never ride those things again." Natsu croakily said then finally faced her. His eyes appeared weary and sweats were all over his face. "Now I look so uncool because of what you made me do. You should do something to cheer up your date."

A small giggle broke out from her as she took out her handkerchief and didn't miss his startle response when she began wiping the sweats on his face. "Juvia is really sorry. Though you look so lame when you threw up, Juvia still admired you for being so brave to ride those."

Right after she wiped his sweats, she smiled warmly at him. "Thank you for doing that."

He chuckled and ruffled her hair playfully. "No problem. I may look dead beat now but I still can go on. Now where do we go next?"

"Do you feel like eating? My treat."

Despite of feeling exhausted, a grin tugged on his lips. "I can handle some burgers."

* * *

There was a fast food near the amusement park and the pair decided to dine in there. After they made their orders on the counter and received their food, they situated themselves at the table on the corner since most of the tables were occupied then Natsu excused himself and went to the restroom to clean his self up. Juvia took out the burgers, fries and drinks from the tray and placed it neatly on the table. She then rested his arms on the table as she looked at the other customers while waiting for Natsu. Some had finished their meals and were chatting at some stuff. Most were still consumed in eating that they hadn't noticed Juvia's stare. Her eyes then followed at Natsu who was walking towards their table with a fresh look and brash smile.

"Yo. Stop ogling at me." He smirked.

Her upper lip twitched as she hissed. "Juvia wasn't."

They started picking their food; Juvia got her cheeseburger and fries while Natsu dug in to his two triple stacker burger. There were fewer talks between them as the two were both busy on their food. Mostly it was Natsu remarking at how delicious this treat or demanding Juvia to eat more because she looks so skinny much to the bluenette's dismay. Unfortunately, Natsu was not able to finish his food due to the sickening feeling of his stomach and decided to ask some paper bag from a staff so he could bring the burger at home. It's a waste if he wouldn't eat it so he asked Juvia to place it temporarily on her bag since he didn't bring one. When their appetite was satisfied, the pair decided to stay there for a while since Natsu still felt exhausted. Afterwards they exited the place and stopped to look at each other with the same questioning eyes.

"Where do you want to go next?" Natsu asked.

It was already 6:08 in the evening and the sky was starting to get darker. Her mom told her that she should be arrived at home before 9pm and it saddened her that she could not extend longer hours for their date. In addition, she could not disclose this date with Natsu to her mom for the woman would not live her down if Juvia would not tell every detail of the happenings.

"Let's just stroll on the plaza then get some fresh air at the seaside. It's relaxing there." She suggested and to her relief, Natsu agreed.

"Okay. Let's go now."

When he started to walk and glanced at her to follow, she moved her feet and her eyes curiously travelled down at his right hand. If she could grab it and hold it while walking, would it be okay? The thought of it just made her face warm as she bit her lips and walked on his side. She had to savour every moment with him right? Perhaps holding his hand could be fine. But wait. Was it appropriate to be the first one to initiate something like this? What if it's actually wrong? What if-Juvia inwardly groaned at her train of thoughts. Screw social rules. Just do what the heart wants.

Facing forward, she moved her eyes to her left side to see his placid face then went downward at his hand which was dangerously close to hers. Flexing her fingers and drawing a deep breath, she closed her eyes and decided to be bold as she moved her left hand quickly. But closing her eyes was a mistake because she clumsily tripped on a stone tending her to stumble forward, her hands abruptly clutched his arm to avoid her herself from falling further.

"Woah! What's wrong?" Natsu helped her to stand properly and Juvia whose eyes widened didn't conceal her blush. He had no idea how her attempt to hold his hand was a failure and it greatly mortified her.

"J-Juvia tripped." She covered her mouth with her hands, still blushing darkly at the embarrassment.

"Here I am walking properly after riding those terrifying rides while you were fine and enjoying there. And now you tripped on a stone." He said with disbelief, shaking his head. Juvia just pouted and looked away. If only he knew the reason.

"Give me your hand."

She was caught off guard by his statement and when she looked up at him; his arm was extended towards her. She was flabbergasted for a second. "Eh?"

"Let me hold it." He stated and her heart skipped at what he just said. Blinking her eyes, she uttered another "eh" and this time, he scratched the side of his cheeks.

"Well…I want to hold your hand." He said sheepishly, a tinge of pink that matches his hair dusted his cheeks. "Y-you might trip again that's why! So let me hold it!"

Juvia stared at him with mouth agape, mirroring his blush. She then shyly smiled and took his left hand. It was larger than hers, callous but comfy and she could feel his warmth on his hand. Experimenting more, she tentatively intertwined her fingers with his and felt his hand tense for a second, then unfalteringly interlocked his fingers with hers. The intimacy made her heart race fast and she wondered what he feels about this.

"This is nice."

"What?"

"Holding your hand." Natsu turned to her with a sheepish smile that made her heart skip. "It's nice."

Juvia remained silent as she regarded him with a warm smile and she didn't have to touch her cheeks to feel herself burning again.

"Yes. But your palm is somewhat sticky."

"That's from the ketchup."

She stared at him blankly and he laughed heartily. Whether he was kidding or not, she fought the urge to dislocate his arm for being so idiotic during this romantic walk. But watching him smiling goofily and laughing childishly while holding her hand, she found the scene engrossing. This guy is just so unexpected.

And indeed, it's nice.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 **A/N**

 _So yeah my fam and I got too carried away at our vacay that we ended up staying at my relative's hometown for almost a month. Sorry for making you guys wait like super long! I did enjoy my vacation there and the thing that kinda upset me was the fact that my cousins don't watch anime. Because it's for kids. A total bs excuse. And I got so detached with the internet world that I hadn't read some updates of my fav mangas, which I will read later. My friends got involved in some hardcore dramas when I opened my fb. And I didn't even know that Super Junior is having a concert tonight in my country. Not that it's a big deal but anyways, I'm back now. Although I dislike my place, I still miss the polluted air, the crowded environment, my dog who hadn't taken a bath for weeks and my awesome room that smells like dog piss. Ugh. So yeah enough with my prattles. I decided to end this til chap 11 instead of chap 10 so two more chaps left and this story will say goodbye sadly. Thank you for reading guys and for the reviews, shoutout to **apitatoor** , who gave awesome flooded reviews thank you so much dear! I hope you enjoy this chapter. See ya!_

 _xoxo_


	10. Picture

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fairy Tail so as the song, "All Mine" by One Ok Rock, that was used here (And I highly recommend you to listen to it)

* * *

 _ **Chapter 10**_

The sky went dark at long last when Natsu and Juvia reached the plaza. Walking casually at the area, the pair felt suddenly conscious as they saw a huge crowd gathering near at the pavilion and it seemed like there's an event happening at the moment. Howls and cheers erupted from the people as they passed by and the voice of a female emcee sounded loudly from the microphone as she prattled something about celebrities. Natsu and Juvia decided to stay near a booth instead on going through the crowd so they could witness the program.

"There's a band!" he exclaimed with excitement.

"Really?" Juvia looked at him and saw his expression turn sour.

"Nah. Just some rookie bands. I bet they're just part of an intermission number."

"Oh." She said with a slight disappointment. "Let's escape here."

The two trod towards the seaside and to their relief, few people were hanging and strolling around the area. It seemed like most people were watching at whatever event on the plaza. It's already night and the delicate paper lanterns adorned the lane near the bay, making Juvia enthralled at the sight. She always liked to visit this place back then. She and her friends used to hang out here, relax and talk about silly things when they were not busy. Surely, she would miss those memories and this place too when she moves out. They decided to sit on the wooden bench adjacent to the railings so they could watch the sea with ease. When they settled themselves on their seat, their hands were separated and Juvia felt somehow displeased at the loss of his warmth. However, their distance was now different unlike the last time they sat together on the bench in a basketball court. This time, the warmth of his arm brush against her gave some tingle feelings inside her.

"This is comforting." Juvia muttered as she dreamily sighed and looked out at the dark sea. She could hear the instruments playing as the band started to play but the sound of the waves dominated her hearing.

"You really love the sea." Natsu remarked and she nodded.

"Yep."

"I usually don't enjoy watching the sea." He confided.

Juvia spared him a glance. "Well not surprising. Natsu doesn't look like the type to do these stuffs."

"But I found it relaxing right now actually…I don't usually feel like this." He said then looked at her. "Maybe it's because you're here."

Juvia stared at him while he snickered. "That was so lame."

"I know. Come on just pretend that you like it."

She snorted and he chuckled. They continued to gaze at the sea silently but more likely, their thoughts were flying away at somewhere. One was thinking about the place she would soon dwell in and the boy that she would leave. The other was pondering about his future and the girl beside him. They were utterly zoned out as they were preoccupied with their thoughts until a familiar song started to play, and they were brought back to their surroundings.

" _All my problems they will run away from you  
And I see all the angels sit and stare at you.  
You are everything but not today."_

"Hey. They're playing _All Mine_." Natsu spoke and looked at the direction of the event.

"Yeah. He got a good voice." Juvia said, listening at the music intently and shivered as the gentle breeze blew her face. "Let's watch them. Juvia wants to know the singer."

She then stood up from her seat and attempted to walk but suddenly a hand gripped her arm and stopped her. Perplexed at his action; her head turned to Natsu who was now staring at her. His obsidian eyes locked with hers and it looked serious and somehow…begging.

"Stay here. Please…Stay."

" _I'm so down and out. `Cause something is wrong without you."_

Juvia stared at him, stunned. She knew he was not talking about the band. This was about their predicament. And it ache her to respond on this matter. When she replied, it came like a whisper.

" _When you're not around, just shadows and rain fall."_

"Juvia can't."

"Then I'll wait. You'll come back right?"

" _Wait til tomorrow. I'll wait.  
Just wanna be with you. Only you. Always you.  
You're so beautiful to me it's true. Amazed by you.  
I think I'm falling."_

She found herself at a loss as his question hit her deep. Come back? She didn't know. She actually never thought of it. The moment she found out that they'll move out, she had planned everything she wanted to do at her new home, new country and new environment. However, coming back was not part of her plan. So as falling to Natsu.

She didn't know how to respond on the matter so she just let her eyes stared at him, even though her eyes began to feel watery.

"Juvia." He stood up; his hand sliding to hers as he squeezed her hand gently. "You'll come back here. Right?"

"I don't know."

Her voice cracked and soon she found herself sobbing. She couldn't bear the pain anymore.

" _All my worries they just sleep in late, lying next to you.  
But I fall to pieces and crumble away. Today nothing works."_

Tears wouldn't stop even though she rubbed her eyes with her hands. She had been holding this back ever since she told him the truth at the café and she couldn't stop it now. Envisioning her new home without the people she used to grow up, without her close friends at school and especially without Natsu, made her heart ache. She detested it. Deep inside her soul, she wanted to abort her relocation, stay and be with him, but she had her dreams and goals that she needed to explore. And her Dad. She had to be with her Dad in person, not just talking to him on a phone or computer screen. She wanted a complete family living in a peaceful home. And after all, she was just a girl full of curiosities and passion, trying to find a place and understand herself more in this chaotic world, and doing her best to achieve her aspirations. But she couldn't have it all.

" _I'm so down and out. But something is wrong without you.  
When you're not around, just shadows and rain fall."_

"I'll wait. Don't worry." He said and pulled her slowly to a hug. To her relief, she buried her face to his chest as she cried even more and wrapped her arms around him while he gently stroked her back and kissed the top of her head.

" _Wait til tomorrow. I'll wait.  
Just wanna be with you. Only you. Always you."_

"Natsu." She continued to sob as Natsu embraced her ardently. She lifted her face to look at him finally and Natsu stifled a laugh as he saw snot coming out on her red nose.

"I won't stop you from crying since you'll do the opposite."

She sniffed and let out a small laugh then quickly wiped the tears on her eyes and cheeks so as her snot with her hands. "Juvia won't cry now."

Natsu just smiled and to her surprise, he leaned closer. It took her breath away and made her frozen when his forehead touched hers.

" _You're so beautiful to me it's true. Amazed by you.  
I think I'm falling.  
Falling with you. Only you. Always you."_

"Juvia…Can I kiss you?"

His eyes were waiting for her permission but her heart and mind right now was not cooperating at the moment. She could feel the heavy pounding of her chest and her mouth couldn't form any words to respond his question. So she decided to close her eyes and parted her lips a little. The next thing she knew was the feeling of his lips pressed against hers and though it was clumsy, she could still taste the sweetness of his kiss, sending some fireworks in her.

" _You're so beautiful to me it's true.  
Amazed by you.  
I know I'm falling."_

Just as the song ended and the applause of the crowd started, Natsu slowly pulled back and she opened her eyes to see his sheepish smile plastered on his boyish face. He detached his arms from her and shoved his right hand on his pocket while the other rubbed the back of his head.

"Was that your first kiss?" he asked and judging by the way she flinch, her genuine shock and beet red cheeks, it was her first. He then playfully smirked. "Sorry if I selfishly took it from you."

The bluenette opened her mouth to retort but then she violently sneezed in front of him. She quickly covered her nose and mouth to hide the snot that came out while she abruptly took out her handky. Natsu on the other hand threw his head back in laughter.

"Holy shit! You just sneezed after your first kiss!"

Juvia blushed furiously and glowered at him while wiping the mess on her face. Shoving her handkerchief back to her bag, she grabbed him by his shirt, to his shock and tilted her heels to give a kiss on his lips. It was just a chaste kiss so when she pulled back and stepped backward, she smiled playfully at him. Though the redness on her cheeks did not fade.

"At least on the second time, Juvia didn't."

Natsu was stunned for a moment at her boldness. He certainly didn't expect it. Then heat started to rush on his cheeks as he fought back a giddy grin but miserably failed.

"You're always full of surprises."

Juvia just chuckled then sat back on the bench, gazing again at the sea. Natsu then sat beside her, as close as he erased the distance between them. Despite the fact that they still felt shy after their kiss, they didn't bother at their proximity.

"Did you really mean it? When you said that you'll wait?" She turned her head and faced him to see his expression.

He smiled warmly and playfully ruffled her hair causing her to squirm and light-heartedly slapped his hand. "Of course silly. I'll wait."

"But…" she hesitated then lowered her gaze on her feet. "It's going to be long years Natsu."

"Don't underestimate me, Juv. I don't go back on my words."

"You might fall in love with someone else."

Juvia could feel him flinch and when she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, she saw him crestfallen. She felt a pang of guilt on her chest and she wished that she never said that.

"I won't say it's impossible because I might. But for this time, for this lifetime, I want to fall in love with you, Juvia! So just let me!"

She whirled her head to him, mouth agape at what he just blurted. The lines were so embarrassing and cheesy. How could he shamelessly say that? Yet here she is, blushing uncontrollably with heart fluttering on her chest.

"So let me wait for you. And if you also want me, then come back here for me."

His words hit her like a bullet. The sincerity of his voice drove her over the edge. She could feel her eyes watery again so she shut it close before another round of tears would pour and mess her face.

"Will you really wait for Juvia?"

"I swear!"

"Promise?"

His brow quirked as he saw her pinky finger extended and he found it cute when she pouted as he didn't reply ahead. Smiling, he interlocked his pinky finger with hers and answered.

"Promise. What about you? Will you come back here someday?"

"Juvia will. Juvia promise."

The pair exchanged some warm smiles as their fingers began to separate and Juvia returned her attention at the sight in front of her.

"Can you tell Juvia why you like her?"

He was silent for a moment at her sudden question and when she peered at him, he was blushing madly while scratching his hair.

"D-Do I really have to say it? What I said a minute ago was fucking embarrassing already!"

"That's unfair. Juvia confessed to you personally earlier and it was so awkward." She countered.

Sighing in defeat, he shifted on his sit to face her and ran his hand through his pink locks. "Uh…I like you because you got a blue hair. You got two eyes….Fine nose and mouth. Aaand yeah...because you're a human."

And that earned him a slap on his arm and he winced as she glared at him. "I was just kidding. But I like you when you're pissed off….Because you're cute." And that also earned him a blush on her face. Smirking in triumph, he leaned his face closer to her.

"And I like you when you blush. Because your cheeks are so fucking cute that sometimes I wanted to pinch or maybe kiss them."

Juvia pushed his face forcibly with her hand and he stumbled backward, laughing. He was teasing her. She could feel her face hot at what he did.

"Shut up. Juvia got it already why you like her." She half-heartedly glared at him as he sat properly on the bench; his laughter subsided and flashed a cheeky grin.

"Good. One last thing…" All of a sudden, Natsu took her hand and placed it on his chest, making her face burned even more as she felt the fast and loud thumping of his heart. "And I like you because you make me feel this way."

He was so earnest. Genuine. That snarky mouth of his was capable of saying things which she still couldn't believe that it came from him. This time, Juvia didn't hold back the silly smile on her mouth as she chuckled; her hand went up to pinch his nose. "Those lines were so cheesy you know."

"Aagh!—I know—stop it." Giggling, Juvia retracted her hand as Natsu gently rubbed his nose. "But admit it. You like it."

The bluenette just snorted and turned to face the sea. A comfortable silence filled their atmosphere and both of them enjoyed the moment. Just sitting together side by side felt fascinating and both of them wished that tonight could last forever. But the sudden ringing of Juvia's phone broke their silence. And their wish.

"It's Mom." Juvia said as soon as she hung up her phone call. She glanced at Natsu with a downcast look. "It's time for Juvia to go home."

"Damn that curfew." Natsu sighed. "Well we don't have a choice."

The pair began striding off from the seaside and stopped for a few minute to see the celebrities who showed up at the event. Since both of them were not a fan of the celebrities there, they decided to walk away and go to the nearest bus stop. Their hands were still attached as they walked and there were no talks exchanged between them. Nevertheless, the silence was comfortable and their mind kept on thinking about what happened this day. And more likely about their status. When they reached the bus stop, there were people lining up and waiting. Juvia stood at the end of the line and their hands both let go.

"I'll stay here until you get inside of the bus." Natsu stated, shoving his hands on his pockets.

"Thanks." Juvia smiled at him softly then suddenly she remembered something. "Oh! Your burger!" She instantly rummaged her bag and took out the paper bag that contained his unfinished burger then handed it to him. "This is my treat so you better eat this!"

Natsu's eyes blinked and a laugh escaped from his lips while Juvia just pouted. He took the burger anyway and let out a lopsided grin. "Sure I'll take and eat this for you."

"Good."

"Hey."

She quirked her brow as she regarded him. "Yes?"

"Did you tell Levy about this?...That you're leaving?" Looking how she flinched at his question, it seemed like she hadn't told Levy about her departure. "Even though you spent time with her shortly, she's still your friend. You should tell her."

A wistful smile formed on her face as she nodded. "Yeah. Juvia would call Levy tonight. Thank you Natsu…For introducing Levy and your friends to Juvia."

He playfully ruffled her hair. "No need to thank me."

"But it was you who encouraged Juvia."

"And it was you who talk and made friends with her." He said with an impish grin as his hand pinched her nose without warning, making her squeak. "Now this is my revenge for what you did back then!"

A loud honk coming from the bus sounded, indicating the bus finally came. Natsu stopped pinching her nose as Juvia smacked his chest so hard. The people boarded inside while Juvia hesitantly looked at Natsu, twiddling her fingers.

"Um…" Natsu raised his brow in confusion when suddenly she tilted her heels and kissed his cheek so quick that she didn't give him some time to react and talk. "Bye!" She scurried and get inside the bus, situating herself at the corner.

Juvia didn't dare to look outside as her heart raced after her speedy escape. She still had mixed emotions on her heart after what happened. But for this moment, she let herself smile like an idiot, ignoring the curious looks from people as the bus started its engine.

* * *

Natsu stood at the waiting shed, holding the paper bag and watching the bus driving away. When the bus was far from his sight, he finally decided to walk. Taking out his burger, he threw the paper bag at the nearest trash bin and began eating it.

He couldn't describe this day. Lots of things happened. But then he was enlightened about his feelings and about Juvia's story. She also felt the same way he feels towards her. That's great. It was their first date. He kissed her at the seaside. And then she's going to leave her. One thing was for sure about what he felt and it was dominating him right now: Pain.

This pain that he held back after she revealed her plans. This pain that he had a hard time to control as their date ensued and continued. This pain that he thought would vanish when he kissed her. And this pain came back the moment he saw her boarded inside the bus. Now it quenched his heart and he couldn't stop it. He couldn't stop her from leaving because it was her decision. It was for her goodness and happiness. He couldn't let his selfishness ruin her choice.

"Shit. This is fucking spicy." He muttered, gnawing his burger and rubbing his teary eyes. "Fuck this spicy burger."

* * *

During rest days, it was a good opportunity to carry out your personal hobbies or recreational activities such as playing sports, sketching, watching your favourite series, binge-eating or even lying down on bed and do nothing. However, it wasn't often that Juvia had that opportunity. Household chores and sometimes her studies tend to tie her down. But now school was over and at this moment, she used the opportunity of her rest day to pack and check her things on her luggage. The day after tomorrow would be the day of her departure. Just thinking about it gave her a dishearten feeling. But indulging herself on that feeling would just put her on more stress and she felt so tired after spending late night talking with Levy. She finally told her classmate about her leaving and Levy was utterly shock and then surprisingly, got mad at her. Juvia couldn't blame her friend's reaction though. As she pushed her luggage near the bed, the sound of her phone ringing completely alarmed her and she immediately took her phone from her bed. Her brows furrowed as it was Meredy who was calling. _What does she need?_ She wondered but eventually answered the call.

"Hello?"

" _Juvia. Sleepover later will be cancelled. Let's just hang out somewhere today."_

She blinked in confusion and went to her closet. "That's bad. Juvia already told mom about this. And Juvia don't think that Mom would allow her to leave in the house." She glanced at her watch before opening in the closet. "It's already four in the afternoon."

" _Come on pleeease!"_ Her friend implored. _"This will be our last day together. Yukino and Kagura couldn't spend a night at your crib. Kagura had to visit a family at the hospital while Yukino had to attend a birthday party of her niece. And I have nothing to do so I just wanna spend time with you right now."_

Juvia couldn't brush off her disappointment from her two friends but then again, she couldn't blame them. The first time she told them about her studying abroad: Meredy got furious, Kagura was shock but with a disappointed look afterwards and Yukino was controlling her temper and tears. The four of them had promised to go at the same university and Juvia just broke it for her dreams. They didn't talk to her for a week but eventually they began to understand and finally accept her decision. They knew that this was just not about her dreams in life. This was not just about the rare chance to study on a prestigious school. This was also about her family. Her yearning for her Dad. A complete family like where she could see her mom and dad talking on the living room whenever she enters the house. She had been longing for that picture and they knew their selfishness and their university promise had no right to stop her from being happy.

"Then just come here in the house. Juvia's fine with you." She muttered as she pulled out her dresses from her closet.

" _But I want us to go on karaoke Juv!"_ Juvia recoiled as Meredy's loud voice almost pierced her ears. _"I had a coupon right now from a KTV bar and they're having a promo today. Let's grab this chance!"_

Juvia dragged another luggage as she unflappably dropped the dresses there. Hand on her hips; she went back to her conversation. "Look. It's late in the afternoon. And there will just be two of us. It's kinda boring and sad if Yukino and Kagura aren't there."

" _Then you can invite someone else! You can invite Natsu!"_

Her heart skipped at hearing his name and the thought of inviting him out just made her discomfited. "Juvia won't invite Natsu." She conceded, although small part of her wanted to.

" _Don't be hard on yourself. I know you wanted to."_ Somehow Juvia could sense the teasing note of her friend's tone. _"But pleeease Juvia. One last time let's hang out right now. I'll buy some cakes and ice cream. Promise!"_

Whenever Meredy made a promise on buying her an ice cream and cake, Juvia would trust her because she was sure that the pinkette would definitely buy those foods. Well not exactly buying but more likely stealing some ice cream or cakes at their family's dessert shop. Juvia sighed as she went to her closet again and looked for some outfit that she could wear right now.

"Fine. Juvia will go. And make sure it's peppermint ice cream flavour and chocolate cake."

Meredy squealed on the other line. _"Aye!"_

After she hung up the phone, she immediately changed her clothes and donned a denim shorts, a simple knitted maroon long sleeves and a beige leather slip-ons. She then went downstairs to search for her mom and found the latter concentrated at watching a romcom series on television. It took her a warm cup of coffee, a nice massage and a strong assurance that she'll arrive at exactly 8:00pm to convince her mother and allowed her to go out of the house. But it was more probably the effect of the TV series that causes her mom to go easy on her. And she was thankful for that.

Juvia had to grab a cab instead of usually waiting for the bus as Meredy kept on pushing her to hurry. Meredy already booked a room and the pinkette was so excited to sing. And she couldn't start singing if Juvia is still not around. Twenty minutes later, the bluenette arrived at the destination and she gave some extra tip to the driver for doing so well at finding shortcuts. She informed Meredy that she had arrived, through text and as she entered the building, her friend replied to her the number of their room. The place looked good as Juvia could hardly hear the faint sound of music from every room that she passed on the hallway. She silently thanked Meredy for choosing this place so both of them could go wild singing and their piercing voice would not cause harm to the outsiders. Bless these soundproofed rooms. Juvia found the room number 10 at last and releasing a sigh, she pushed the door open. Then the pop of confetti surprised her, making her froze on the doorway as she registered the faces of the occupants inside the room.

"Surpriiiise!"

Juvia remained still as her jaw slackened; dumbfounded at the situation she was in. There was Meredy in the center holding a tray of chocolate cake with a huge grin on her face. But the baffling part was her two friends standing at Meredy's side, Kagura and Yukino. Why were they here if they had some business to attend to? But the most bewildering part in the situation is the people standing at their back with wide grin. And one of them was holding the confetti and still snickering, the object of her affection.

"Juvia! I thought you will completely ditch us! I was so worried if our plan will fail!" Levy suddenly went to her and tackled her to hug, making Juvia snapped out from her surprise. Though her surprise subsided, her confusion still remained.

"Wha-what plan? And why is everyone here?" she asked. Levy looked up at her and smiled brightly.

"We're throwing you a party! We want your remaining days in this town to be enjoyable." Levy spoke softly as she stepped back but that just made Juvia felt something heavy inside her. As she watched her three closest friends approaching her, she was surprised once again as they smothered her with a hug.

"And yeah she finally came here!" Meredy said.

"Sorry if we lied to you Juv." Yukino kissed her cheeks.

"Technically, it was just Meredy who lied. We did nothing but just wait for you." Kagura quipped. "And we want you to hang out with your friends too."

"Hey Kagura. At least thank me for convincing her to go along."

Juvia just stood and watched Meredy and Kagura throwing half-hearted verbal spars while Yukino kept on pacifying them. She saw Kinana and Laki sitting on the couch while mouthing something to her that she couldn't decipher. Beside Laki was Gajeel who was arguing with Jet and Droy about food because it seemed like Droy wanted to have some peppermint ice cream. Then there was Gray, holding the songbook and gave her a smile but it only vanished when Natsu forcibly grabbed the songbook from him. The two exchanged glares and before it could turn something terrible; Erza grabbed the song book and sat in between them. Natsu sneered at the redhead and subsequently turned his head to the celebrant. His genuine smile showed up as he approached her, bringing a microphone.

"Yo. Guess our surprise work out." He said and handed the microphone to her. "This moment, you will be the star so you better sing for us before you leave….Hey. Why are you crying?"

His question caused the room to fall in silence and divert their attention to the bluenette.

Juvia blinked her eyes and startled as she realized her cheeks dampen because of her tears. Their presence somehow overwhelmed her. And what they did to her gave some huge impact on her heart. She wanted to say something but as she opened her mouth, jumbled words came out mixed with her tears.

"Hey calm down. We didn't come here to make you cry." Natsu said with a chuckle.

Juvia kept on wiping her tears with her hands as she continued to weep. She wasn't crying because she was sad. She was totally happy with their surprise. Totally happy that she can't stop her tears from flowing because she's going to miss them so much when she moved out.

"T-thank you!" she finally uttered between her sobs. And most of all, she would surely miss the guy she likes the most, who was now pulling her into a hug and suddenly yelled.

"GROUP HUG!

* * *

"Dragneel, Natsu."

Everytime he heard the way his complete name pronounced during practices, Natsu always cringed. Perhaps it was because of their school prefect who kept on reprimanding him to move properly during their practice. But this day, this significant ceremony, he wore a huge grin as he walked to the podium with pride. The portly principal gave him his diploma and together with the vice principal and school chairman, he shook Natsu's hand and gave the pinkette a congratulations with a smile. Natsu's smile broadened in triumph and delights as he faced the crowd. He saw his brother sitting on the parent's area and clapping his hands with a proud smile while his blonde girlfriend kept on waving her hand and taking pictures of him.

The awarding of diploma took almost one and a half hour to finish and after the graduate students recited their pledge and oaths to the school, they began to sing their school hymn. Natsu realized many things as he mindlessly sang the hymn. His high school days were officially over. The time for him to act like a real grown up and responsible guy would begin. And even though they had done many practices for this ceremony, he realized that he still couldn't memorize the lyrics of their school hymn. And his stupidity still remained. A wave of nostalgia hit him as memories of his high school days suddenly flooded on his mind. Those were fun and awesome for him and he would definitely miss it. He learned lots of things from his experiences, success and especially from his mistakes. And most of all, the very highlight of his high school life, he met a girl fifteen days before this day finally came.

When the song was done, Natsu searched for the blue-haired girl at the left area. The recessional commenced, an indication that the ceremony had ended and the students started to scatter around the area. Some went to hug and cry with their peers. Some went to their parents. Some were taking pictures with their friends, crushes and even teachers. On the other hand, Natsu made his way through the crowd and went to find his brother. When he saw Zeref who was smiling at him, he beamed broadly, waving his diploma at his brother's face.

"Yo. You have to increase my allowance after this!" he said happily but Zeref just chuckled and pulled him to a brotherly hug. His cheeks burned at his brother's actions as it still embarrassed him when his brother displayed some affection on him especially in public.

"Congrats." Zeref said with a calm smile as soon as he pulled back. "And I won't increase your allowance. You should look for some part time job."

Natsu scowled at his brother's suggestion then suddenly jerked up when someone jabbed him from behind. When he turned around to give that someone a snarl, he was welcomed by a flash of camera and a smiling face coming from his brother's girlfriend.

"Congratulations Natsu!" Mavis said and hugged him. Natsu laughed heartily and patted Mavis' head.

"Thank you, Mavis. You should stop hugging me now. Look, my brother is giving me some scary looks." He quipped while the blonde laughed; pulling away from him and smoothly went to Zeref's side with a huge smile.

"I'm not giving some scary look. In fact, I'm giving you the 'where is that girl who turned you down' look."

His brow twitched at his Zeref's taunt. Natsu already told his brother about his date with her but still his brother liked to dub Juvia as 'the girl who turned him down'. Which completely and effectively annoyed him.

"Well I had to find her. And you better stay here because you'll just do something in front of her to embarrass me!" he said and without waiting for his brother's reply, he started to walk and search for Juvia.

As he pushed his way through the crowd, his head kept on tilting to hunt a particular bluenette and finally, he saw her standing stiffly near the gate and looking shock at how Levy hugged her so tight. Juvia was too preoccupied at Levy's crying monologue and when the latter finally ran away to hug Gajeel, Natsu grabbed that chance to hug Juvia from behind and lift her up shortly. Juvia shrilled in surprise and embarrassment and when she spun around, her cheeks instantly flushed as she whacked Natsu's chest.

"You are giving Juvia a heart attack!" She exclaimed, hand clutching her chest while the pinkette just laughed at her.

"You know what, I want something from you that I kept on forgetting to ask everytime when we're together." Natsu said, his face turning sober and the baffled look of Juvia made his face almost twitch. He then took out his phone, swiping its screen to open then awkwardly looked at her with a sheepish grin. "We had watched concert. We even dated. But we never got a picture together."

Her eyes blinked, blush dusted her cheeks and her pause gave him a chance to quickly take a stolen shot of her.

"Nice. Now this is candid!" Natsu said as he saved the picture and that made the bluenette startled and gasped.

"Hey! Delete it! You're so sneaky! And Juvia looks so ugly there!" She yelled as she tried to reach his phone but he stretched his arm upward, making it more difficult to her.

"You aren't ugly here, Juv. No worries." He said with an impertinent grin.

"Juvia."

The two of them stopped and looked at the older woman, who was smiling at them and holding a camera. Natsu watched Juvia who suddenly hugged the woman while the latter kissed her cheeks. And that moment, he realized that he finally met her mother.

"Mom…Can you take us a picture?" Juvia suddenly suggested and all of a sudden, his heart raced fast at the thoughts that formed inside of his mind. He wondered if her mom knew about him. He wondered if her mom knew about his feelings towards her daughter. Then his mind drifted as he wondered about their status. They both admitted that they like each other. So are they on boyfriend-girlfriend status now? He wasn't sure though. But besides, he preferred it to be this way. Maybe in the future, she would be something more to him.

Seeing the knowing smile that her mother gave as she prepared to take them a picture, he didn't know how he would interpret it. He was then snapped out from his train of thought when Juvia clung on his arm and leaned closer to him.

"Smile!"

He let out his best smile as the camera flashed, praying silently that he looks good on it.

"Your left eye twitched." Juvia giggled as she checked out the photo. And he groaned.

"Dammit. Can we take another shot?"

"No worries brother. Mavis will take care of that."

Natsu inwardly groaned as he saw his brother appeared with his girlfriend. Zeref was just so stubborn and Natsu knew he got his stubbornness from his brother. If he would do something to embarrass him, then he had to dig a hole right now to hide.

"So this is the girl you like Natsu?" Mavis asked as she observed Juvia with an excited smile. "She's so pretty! No wonder you can't stop talking about her to Zeref!"

And he didn't expect that kind of humiliation. From his brother's girlfriend. Natsu and Juvia's face mirrored as blush and startled expression appeared on their faces. He was too late to dig some holes and he wished that he had a power to evaporate in an instant or spit some fire to burn that annoying smirk on his brother's face.

"Please stand beside her. I'll take a picture of you two." Mavis said as she positioned her camera.

Sighing, Natsu sheepishly looked Juvia who was getting fidgety. He then stood beside her and put his arm around her shoulders.

"Now stop acting shy and smile at the camera!" Mavis said. "Say cheeeesyyy!"

Neither of them said cheesy but a smile instantly showed on their face as the camera flashed. It was two shots, one smiling and the other one making a peace sign.

"Juvia." Natsu said and positioning his phone in a selfie position. "Let's take a selfie!"

"We're taking many pictures." He could sense her embarrassment right now but he needed a picture of her with him on his phone. As much as it was discomfiting to say for him, he wanted to look at her face like every night.

"I want a picture of us in my phone. Pleeease. One last shot." He implored. _So I can make it my wallpaper._

She stared at him for a while before releasing a sigh. "Fine."

Natsu's grin grew wide as he pulled her even closer to him and subsequently tap the capture button. Juvia was smiling widely at the photo looking so beautiful and Natsu was happy with that. He would definitely make it wallpaper on his phone and he would stare at it for hours though on the second thought, it would be creepy. Plus his eyes didn't twitch awkwardly so he didn't have to crop his face out. Then all of a sudden, their space was surrounded with their classmates as they suggested taking a whole class picture. Natsu and Juvia stood at the center and with their position; no one could see their hands holding as it was blocked by the students who were squatting in front of them. They glanced at each other for a while and smiled as they both squeezed their hands.

"Ready! Smile!"

And click! It took them six shots to complete their photo and most of their poses were random and chaotic. Despite of that matter, the genuine happiness of the students finally accomplishing something was pretty distinct at the pictures. Especially for Natsu and Juvia. Things would change after this and more changes would come. It was up for them how to work their lives together as they both strived for their goals. But above everything else, they held strongly on their oath.

That Natsu would wait. And Juvia would come back.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 **A/N**

 _Heyyy! Sorry for the late update. I've been so busy these past few days at looking some part-time jobs and finally I got some job interviews (and it was hell). I can't afford some full-time work because—this sucks but I need to do this for my goal—I have to go to school once again to study another one year course. Surprise! I'm back at being a student. I passed that awkward entrance exam of my preferred uni and I think it's a call for me to pursue what I want. And I need some job `cause my parents won't give me allowance anymore and told me that I'm an adult capable of working! Dammit, it really sucks but that's life._

 _But anyways, the final chapter is finally done (I kept on rewriting it) and I hope you will like it! Originally this was supposed to be the last one but my friend insisted to make a proper closure like an epilogue for this pair in this story and so I did because she had a point. And I made the final chap somehow long after many revisions. I will release it maybe next week or at the end of the month, depends on my mood lol. So yaaaass, I'm finally done on writing this. So what are your thoughts about the story? What are your favourite moments? Did you have fun reading? Let me know hehe._

 _Shoutout to_ _ **Dimensional Dragon Slayer.**_ _Thank you for reading and please don't cry, hold it back xD and **Dark Gothic Lolita.**_ _Being one of my fav authors in this site and the fact that you read and review my work, my fangirling mode triggered hahaha thank you for reading!_

 _xoxo_


	11. Final: Home

_Finally it's the last chapter of this story. Thank you so much for reading!:*:*_

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own Fairy Tail

* * *

 _ **Chapter 11**_

" _Juvia. You'll come back right?"  
"Juvia promise."  
"Juvia."  
"Natsu."_

.

.

"Wake up you shitheads!"

Natsu groaned in pain as he felt a rough kick on his legs. He opened his eyes and rose up from the bed then immediately regretted it when the aftermath of being wasted shot him. He groaned again at the pounding pain of his head and when his friend opened the curtains, letting the vicious morning light filtered the room and his tired eyes, it didn't help his condition.

"Dammit Gray! Wake up and put some fucking boxers! Your dick is showing off!"

Jet's loud voice irritated him so much that he wanted to yell back and rip his mouth off but the pinkette was too disconcerted at the moment. Until his eyes shifted at the pair of legs beside him then down to the owner who was still lying on the bed and snoring on his sleep…while naked. Natsu instantly twitched in disgust.

"Ugh. Tell me I did not sleep with this bastard!" Natsu spat, his hangover worsened at the immoral sight of his best friend. Using his left foot which was so close to Gray's face and rubbed his toes on the raven-haired' s nose. "Wake up you stripper! You don't want me to cut your dick right now? Why are you in my bed?!"

"Gah! The fuck is this?!" Gray yelled croakily and yanked Natsu's foot away from his face. He sluggishly sat up and scowled at his companion.

"You mother fucker. You got some nerve to stick your foot on my nose!"  
"And you got some nerve to sleep on my bed while naked!"  
"Stop yelling you bastards and that is my bed for goddamn sake! You two got some nerve to kick me out of my bed and let me sleep on the floor! And Gray dammit! Put some clothes on!"

The two just growled while Jet stormed out of the room, his loud voice kept on granting on the other side.

"His hangover just turned him into a naggy mom." Gray muttered as he got off from the bed. "Dammit where's my boxers?"

"Like hell I know." Natsu rolled his eyes and fell back on the bed, shutting his eyes close. He inwardly yelled some profanities against Jet for waking him up and disrupting his dream. He knew he saw Juvia there. Oh how he missed her so much. Just one more time, he wanted to see her. He would do anything to see it again even if it meant castrating Gray who was swearing consecutively, and it just disturbed his meditation and mood right now. Natsu sat up and glowered at Gray.

"Can't you see someone's trying to sleep here?!"

"Fuck! I got 10 missed calls from Lucy!"

Gray sent him a panic look which Natsu returned with a rolling of his eyes.

"And whose fault is that?"

Gray then showed his phone to Natsu whose eyes squinted at the phone's screen. "And 15 missed calls from Erza."

"Oh fuck." Now he felt his heart sunk into the pit of his stomach as something _very_ important finally dawned on his mind. He searched for his phone frantically. "What day is today? And what time is it?!"

All of a sudden Jet entered the room, looking fresh and clean and once he saw his friends still on his bed, his temper once again surfaced.

"You two are still here! Come on and move your asses! And Gray! Forget your boxers. Put some random pants on!"

"Hey!" Natsu jumped off on the bed as he grabbed Jet's shirt and shook him violently. "Is today the wedding?! Why didn't you wake us up earlier?! Erza's gonna kill us!"

"Let go off me and calm down!" Jet exclaimed, pushing the pinkette away.

"You're the one who should calm down. Dammit, so noisy." Gray muttered as he put on his clothes.

"Shut up Gray and to answer your question Natsu, tomorrow is the wedding day. It's still 10:30 in the morning and yes…Erza will kill us all for making them wait at the café for an hour!"

The last statement just brought the two men in an alarm as they hastened their movements on washing their face and changing their clothes. They purposely skipped their breakfast except for Jet who already ate while the two were sleeping, then went out of Jet's apartment. It's crazy how they just live next to each other but the two idiots were too lazy to go home last night after getting smashed at Jet's crib. Jet got promoted on his job and he was the one who set off a celebration by drinking some beers. Since Gray needed a drink for stress reliever while Natsu just liked to celebrate, they joined in without reluctance. And now they suffered at the aftermath.

"Oh geez. Where are my socks?!"  
"Natsu! Hurry up!"

Natsu released an exasperated sigh as he tossed the clothes that were piled on his bed to the floor while he searched for his black socks. His room was a big mess and if Zeref was at his apartment, he would definitely reprimand Natsu's untidiness. It had been four months since he moved out from his house. It's not like he disliked that place. Zeref and Mavis were having a family and Natsu just wanted to be independent.

As soon as he found the socks under his bed, Natsu then grabbed his backpack then dashed towards the front door. As he went outside and closed the door, he made sure to lock it then hurriedly went inside of Gray's car and saw his best friend sitting on the driver's seat with an anxious look while texting on the phone. Probably trying to placate his girlfriend. Speaking of that, he took out his phone and swiped the screen to see 15 missed calls. Natsu blanched.

Jet was the last one who entered and they immediately frowned at his somewhat late arrival and at the small box that he was carrying. Before the two could reproach him, Jet revealed what's inside the box, which gave them a perfect idea to deflect Erza's punches. A chocolate cake. Yes it would work! Erza had returned from overseas to attend the wedding and the last thing they wanted at this moment was to piss her off at her vacation. And they prayed to every gods in the world to let this chocolate cake miraculously unleashed its power to save them.

The travel took twenty minutes for them to arrive at their destination and they were lucky that no police car was chasing them. Because Jet and Natsu were sure that the car's speed limit exceeded. When the car stopped, all of them were indisposed on getting out. They were still not mentally prepared to face the wrath of their female friend. But when Erza's text: _Get the fuck out of there_ came, they immediately went outside. Natsu's eyes still felt heavy and he frowned at the bright light coming from the sun that hurts his eyes. In addition, he almost stopped on his tracks and stepped backward when he saw Erza standing on the veranda with glare, face and aura full of murderous intent. It brought chills on his spine.

"Why are you so late?!"

It was Lucy who voiced out her frustration as she walked towards Gray and unsurprisingly kicked his balls. It was unsurprising because that's what she always do whenever she's mad and Gray already expected it and quickly blocked her target.

"You made us ladies wait for almost two hours! And you didn't answer our calls! Just where the hell are you?! Levy has been looking for us and look what time is it!"

Natsu's gaze focused on the floor because people were now looking at them as if they are assholes! Talk about public humiliation. And moreover, Erza was still glaring at him. Just why the hell was she _only_ glaring at him?!

"Look. We're sorry and we woke up late becau—" Lucy suddenly leaned closer to Gray and sniffed.  
"You reek of alcohol."  
"Yeah…We were drunk last night and—"  
"I see. Hangover. Damn. Of all the times you have and you chose to drink _last night_. Great!"  
"W-wait. It's Jet's idea to—"

"Lucy. Let me handle this."

Was it because of the heat of the sun? The way how Gray drove the car? Or was his hangover still on going? Natsu didn't know because he felt somewhat dizzy right now. His mind was too disoriented that he didn't see Jet's face being smashed by Erza's punch and heard her yell about strawberry cake. And too disoriented that he didn't notice Erza roughly grabbing his shirt. And the last things he remembered after that was the stars circling his vision, enormous pain throbbing on his head and then the darkness engulfing him.

* * *

.

.

Nine years had passed after his high school graduation.

For Natsu, it was like a roller coaster ride—so nauseating, terrifying but also very exciting.

His path to become a civil engineer was not an easy cake. Studying took most of his time because unlike in high school, he couldn't fool around easily. His classmates were too competitive—too competitive that some wouldn't share notes with him. He couldn't afford to get lower marks or else he would be ridiculed by the people who expected him to shift course after one semester. One thing that kept him pushing his willpower to study and remain at this degree was his pride.

That he wouldn't back down at any challenges.  
That he had to prove the people that he's not a dimwit idiot.  
And hell it worked.

Because after four years, Natsu finally finished his university life. With another year of endurance, he finally got a license on his degree. Thanks to the friends he met in his class, he had managed to push the pressure away from his system. He could still vividly remember how he and his friends cried when they passed the licensure exam. Most importantly, thanks to his brother and his high school friends who kept on giving him emotional and moral support. And thanks to that bluehaired girl who became his motivation to keep on moving forward and achieve his goals.

Yes. It was Juvia.

Juvia was part of the reason why Natsu studied hard to get some incentives from his brother. And she was also the whole reason why he looked for a part-time job on his second year before the next year's Christmas came. Back then he missed her so much and he couldn't get satisfied at her talking through video call, he suddenly made a crazy plan to visit her. He was so pumped up about the idea because his brother approved it and he could finally experience an out of the country vacation.

It was one week before Christmas that he arrived there and it was him who got surprised for three reasons. One, the city was really big. It was not the same as the place he lives. Two, he was having a hard time to choose where to hang out for awhile as there are lots of tall buildings and shops on the area. And lastly, which was more like a horrifying part; he didn't actually know Juvia's home address. How stupid of him to forgot her address! Back when he was still making this plan, he kept imagining the scenarios on his mind on how he would surprise Juvia like a normal gate crash on her crib. But he never asked for her address before. More likely, he couldn't ask her for it might raise a suspicion. It would ruin his surprise! Needless to say, it seemed like his stupidity ruined it.

So he stayed at the coffee shop that he randomly chose for almost an hour debating whether to call her or perhaps just stay at some hotels. But when he later found out the brewed coffee that he ordered was too overpriced for him—plus he already paid and thought that checking in at some hotels could be a pretty bad idea for his budget—he finally decided to call Juvia. It took four rings for her to answer his call and when Natsu told her that he arrived at their country in a laid-back manner, she just laughed thinking that it was a big joke.

"Stop joking around Natsu." Juvia said between her laughter.  
"I'm not joking here Juv." His tone was sober. "It's pretty cold in here. So you better get me now."  
"Juvia still have class Natsu. If you have time to fool around then don't disturb Juvia."  
"Hey wait—"

When she ended the call, it just annoyed the pinkette. Of course she wouldn't believe him because he jokes a lot. That's his downside. As he looked at the café for a moment, a brilliant idea crossed his mind. Taking his phone, he took a picture of the place, then outside of the café and lastly a funny selfie of himself as he sent it to Juvia. One minute later, she messaged him back.

 _Juvia is coming there._

His heart really raced at the thought of seeing Juvia once again. Feeling anxious but at the same time excited, he drank his brewed coffee to ease his nerves. His eyes roamed around the area, watching the people getting in and out of the place. Then he saw a familiar person who entered the shop. He didn't recognize her at first but as she got closer, his eyes widened. Natsu felt his voice catch in his throat as Juvia bounded up to him. The bluenette didn't seem to see him at first but when their eyes locked for a moment, she sped up. His heart beat wildly in his chest as she came closer and closer. And when she finally stood one meter in front of him, staring at him as if he was a ghost, Natsu put his coffee down on the table and slowly rose up from his seat to greet her. They just stood there catatonically, staring at each other in enchantment, unable to form words.

To her, he was not real.  
To him, she had grown beautiful.  
And it was then Natsu who decided to break the spell.

"Yo."

Just that simple word caused Juvia to jump and throw her arms around him to his surprise. It was so good to reunite with each other. It felt like cloud nine to have her in his arms as he embraced her tightly and none of them cared about the looks of the customers. Natsu was beyond blissful and Juvia was crying out of happiness as she buried her face on his chest while telling him how very happy she is and pounding her fist on his chest because he's an idiot for not asking her address.

It was the best Christmas for the both of them.

Natsu finally met Juvia's family and it was awkward at first. Especially her dad. Her old man was displaying a fake overprotective dad as a means to threaten Natsu. And it did terrify the pinkette when he watched her dad brutally chopping a raw fish while conversing with Natsu in a calm and even manner. Eventually they grew to like him and approved him as Juvia's "boyfriend". They actually hadn't thought about their status ever since they had admitted their feelings with each other. But now that Natsu was officially introduced to her family, it was crystal clear that she's now her boyfriend. And she's his girlfriend. Their long distance relationship was official.

But their relationship wasn't that simple as they thought it was.

School bombarded them with projects, reports and research. They hardly found time to call each other. Too focus on their work and personal problems in their life that sometimes it became their main reason to get into small fights. The thrice a week video call habit became thrice a month or thrice in two months. But they still did their best to get in touch with each other, to patch their errors even though finding time was so difficult. They did not miss greeting each other with their birthdays and important holidays. And they hadn't missed celebrating their graduation. It was the best moment of his life because at the day of his graduation, he was utterly surprised to see Juvia with his brother.

She finally came back.

Natsu was beyond happy at that moment that he didn't mind hugging her and kissing her suddenly with an enormous crowd at their background. And he didn't even mind Zeref and Mavis' teasing expression. Even though it was just a one month vacation, just temporary, they made sure to value their limited days with each other. Juvia stayed at her relative's house and Natsu would visit her or sometimes ask her to come over at his house. She also did hang out with her girl friends that were so glad to see her after four years. They knew about her and Natsu dating and that became their hot topic just to tease and see the bluenette flustering in embarrassment.

But after they graduated and proceeded to another level of their life, time once again became their dilemma.

Their relationship became more complicated. Juvia found a job and she was taking her Master's degree while Natsu was reviewing for his board exam. So many things consumed their time and made them busy and they were too pressured then. Then the terrifying stage came when Juvia called him one night. His mind felt so exhausted after hours of studying, nevertheless he was glad and relieved that she called him that time. But his relief instantly faded when she told him that they should just break up to focus on their goals.

It felt like the world had split down when he heard that.

Out of shock, Natsu dropped the cup that he held and he didn't even wince at the hot coffee spilling on his lap. He was beyond mortified. He just couldn't believe that she said those words after four years of keeping in touch with each other. He couldn't believe that she wanted just stop without considering their efforts that they gave for their relationship.

Was she fed up of him?  
Was he not good enough?

But when she explained her reason that she didn't want him to get more pressured, that she felt like she's dragging him down and when she told him her insecurities that she might not be good enough for him, Natsu snapped. Patience and self-control were the things he learned from their relationship. Before he couldn't control his temper and was too idiotic to carelessly get carried away with things, but being with Juvia taught him to be patient and to be careful. Except that moment. He's mad and he couldn't hold it. He utterly detested the idea of breaking up with her. And he couldn't allow that because he valued her.

She became a big part of his world.

She became his sole motivation.

And he didn't know if he could still be whole if she would break up with him. He was shaking in apprehension and she was crying on the other line. Natsu knew there's no such thing as _forever_ and his parents were the proof of that. But he believed that things could last longer, even at relationship, even at love.

So he fought.

He fought for her. For their relationship. For their love. He assured her that everything would turn fine if they would just endure this and keep fighting. He assured her that she's the one that he wanted to spend his life with. Not another women but just her. And then he reminded her that he would just wait for her to come back. And if she couldn't make it then he would chase her because he wanted her. It might be childish, selfish and stupid. But he would choose to be at that state because the idea of her vanished in his life was something that he couldn't live on.

He loves her.

So they continued and stayed strong. Natsu finally passed the licensure exam then later on, he found a job. It also took two years for Juvia to finally attain her master's degree and Natsu even went to see her graduation. Christmas became their favourite occasion because Natsu would visit her and spend his holiday vacation at her house with her family. Juvia was so happy and relieved about everything that happened. She was happy that she made the right choice but part of her still felt guilty and somehow shame whenever she thinks about that night.

How could she just easily give up? She became too pessimistic and her low self-esteem overpowered her again. And once again, Natsu saved her and brought her back to her senses. Just like the first time he grabbed her from the sidewalk on that rainy afternoon when she was in her high school. Just like the first time he yelled at her and guided her to a new adventure. His optimism and perseverance was contagious to her that she feels like she can do anything because of him. He was truly a remarkable guy and with that, she had to be strong and improve herself. And even if she's not the best woman in the world, she would love him at her best.

Indeed it was a roller coaster ride.

Nine years had passed and now they're both skilled at their profession. And all they needed was to be with each other's side. Even though their routine of calling each other almost every day was back, Natsu still preferred her to be literally at his side. To see her walk around his apartment and cook a dinner for them. To hug her on their sleep and feel her warm body. To see her carrying his child with so much affection. To grow old with her and smile as they reminisce their life.

How he wished for that.

And he would make it come true because two weeks from now, she would return. And in that time, he would ask her to be part of his future. He would ask her to spend her life with him.

.

.

* * *

Natsu yawned loudly and opened his eyes when he heard some noise on his surroundings. He groggily moved on his seat and winced when a loud squealing outside, probably coming from the girls because Jet and Gray wouldn't do that, pierced his ears. It seemed like they arrived at Levy's town and he wondered how much he had slept after Erza knocked him out. Still he was thankful for what Erza did because he might probably barfed during the travel and he also got the time to relax. To dream and somehow see those distant memories of his past. Few minutes later Natsu got out on the van, bringing his backpack and he was met with a surprise when Levy tackled him in a hug. He hugged her in return with a laugh.

"Yo. Congrats in advance. I'm happy for you Lev. Even though Gajeel is a fucking bastard, he loves you so much." He said with a cheeky grin as soon as she pulled out. "If he'd do something terrible to you, which I'm sure he wouldn't, me and the gang would beat his ass up for you. You know how badly we want to beat him up. We just need an excuse."

Levy playfully whacked his chest. "No need for that. I can beat up Gajeel without your help."

"So Gajeel wasn't lying that you're the dominant one."  
"W-what?!"  
"Anyways, where is that bastard? And woah, Levy. You got a cool place here."

Natsu looked around the area. Jet told him that the wedding ceremony would be on the countryside where Levy's parents reside. Seeing the whole place captivated him. The sight of fields of green grass and rolling hills, the chirping of the little birds, the smell of Earth filling his nose and oh—there were horses! He wanted to ride them later—and some sheeps and cows grazing happily on the fields, he found it so fascinating. His mind was planning about the adventure he would do in this place later. And Levy's hand was waving on his face.

"Hey! Earth to Natsu! I'm sure you're hungry right now. I think everyone's in the house so how about we go now." She started to walk and ushered him to follow.

"Sure. I'm starving right now. We skipped breakfast."  
"Cause you woke up late. Lucy told me that."

Natsu and Levy were talking some things (more likely backstabbing Gajeel) as they walked towards the house. Part of him felt jealous with Levy and Gajeel as they're literally close to each other unlike him and Juvia. But that won't be a problem to him anymore because two weeks from now, Juvia would take a vacation at their town. And he would propose to her. Gajeel made a surprising and corny proposal to Levy and Natsu somehow found an urge to beat his friend's proposal. When they arrived, Natsu was impressed at Levy's home. The house was a big cozy one-storey residence that has multiple rooms and can accommodate many guests. The glass windows were large, providing views of the surroundings and creating a stunning living space. The warm glow from the wood materials combined with the natural light coming from the outside created a homey atmosphere in every room and Natsu wished his dull apartment was like this. He wished this was his house where he could relax at the sofa after doing some heavy loads of work and perhaps see Juvia standing on the staircase with arms crossed and glare equipped.

Natsu blinked.

He rubbed his eyes and blinked again.

Juvia was really literally standing on the staircase!

"Surprise Natsu! Juvia is actually here! Hahaha! Ha…Err…Uh I'll see you both at the kitchen."

Perhaps she was giving them privacy or the atmosphere became awkward for her to witness. Whatever her reason was, the two didn't care. Their feet were glued on the ground but their eyes were remained on each other: one full of surprise while the other filled with glare. Natsu knew she's angry right now for he missed her calls 15 times. Why was she here? She was supposed to come back next two weeks right? He had to be worried right now but the feeling of surprise; yearning and happiness ruled his emotions.

As he stupidly stood and stared at her, Juvia made her way towards him. She had grown more beautiful from the last time he saw her in person. Her wavy hair grew longer. Her blue green Sunday dress fitted her body perfectly and her body—no, he didn't have to describe that further. Regardless of her sour mood, she looked so stunning to him! He wanted to ask why she's here or tell her how much he miss her or anything but his throat became so dry.

"Why are you not answering my calls? You worried me a lot last night! Do you know how many times I ca—"

Natsu didn't let her finish because he silenced her with a fervent hug. He heard her yelp, the way her voice softened when she spoke his name and he felt her body loosened up against him. Burying his head on the crook of her neck, he inhaled her scent and finally smiled. She's real and she's back. They stayed like that for a long moment.

"I miss you." He said with a breath of relief.  
"You didn't give me a moment to be mad at you."

He moved his head to see her face, his arms still tangled on her waist. His smile grew wider as he saw her pretty smile and sparkling eyes. Damn. He wanted to kiss her right here and right now. But then he remembered his marriage proposal. And Juvia was now here.

"I thought your flight will be at the third week."  
"Hmm. Natsu doesn't look happy that Juvia's here." She pouted. "Of course Juvia must be early for Levy's wedding."

And her trademark talk returned that he found it so adorable and he wanted to kiss her right now. Ugh, control yourself dude. Of course she wanted to attend the wedding. How did he not think of that?! But she told him before that she couldn't go and…yeah. She lied.

"And you wanted to surprise me." He said with a lopsided grin. And she nodded with a smile.

"Yep. And I did surprise you. But you made Juvia angry for you didn't answer my calls."

"I'm sorry I was really drunk last night."

"Yeah. Levy already told me about that. And I can smell alcohol on your breath." Natsu instantly detached his arms and cover his mouth in shame.

"Sorry. You won't kiss me probably because of this. I'll brush my teeth later."

She whacked his arm but she was laughing and he did miss hearing her laughter. Then a thought suddenly came on his mind.

"Hey Juv…How long will you stay here?"

It suddenly frightened him at thinking of how long or perhaps short she would stay at this place. He still hadn't planned his proposal! He hadn't bought a ring yet or found some place that could be suitable, cheesy but romantic to ask her for marriage. He had to think fast or else…

"I won't come back there."

Natsu tilted his head in confusion as he tried to decipher her words. Giggling at his expression, Juvia held his hands and smiled warmly at him.

"I would stay at this country, at my home. From now on."

He searched her face as he tried to calm the emotions spreading his heart. "W-why?"

"It was a nice place there, living and spending time with my family and experiencing new things. But I'm a grown-up now. I'm done fulfilling my goals and what I need to do now is to fill this missing part of my heart. I need to find a place where I feel so right. And going back here is the answer. I want to see my friends. I want to eat my favourite foods and visit my favourite places that are exclusive here in this country. I need a home Natsu."

She stepped closer and his breath hitched when she hugged him and lifted her blushing face up to look at him.

"And I want to be with you. Because Natsu is part of Juvia's home. And because Juvia loves you so much."

His heart swelled at the words she was saying and it seemed that his eyes moistened. Damn, he didn't want to cry in front of her. He didn't even know how to respond her verbally for his throat became the driest thing ever in the world. So he cupped her cheeks and kissed her fully on the lips, the quickest way he did to reciprocate her confession. She kissed her back willingly, ignoring the alcohol smell. She would even allow herself to be drunk at his passionate kisses. When they pulled back, they gave themselves a moment to breathe, staring at each other with a mirror blush.

"Sounds like you are proposing to me." Natsu said with a sly grin and Juvia flinched; blush deepened at his remark.

"I'm—J-Juvia is not—Uh—"

"I'll marry you."

An audible gasp escaped her lips as she stared at him with wide eyes. In response, Natsu smiled and placed his forehead on hers.

"I'll marry you Juvia. I don't have a ring yet but I'll buy you one and propose to you properly. I just want you to know…that I love you so much. And I'll definitely marry you. Is that okay?"

Juvia closed her eyes and smiled giddily. "Then buy a ring and Juvia will tell Natsu her answer."

"Hey! Are you still gonna do some lovey dovey stuffs there and ignore your lunch? It's still afternoon and you can do more than that later at your room!"

Natsu turned to glare at Gajeel who was smirking and waving his hand at the hallway while Juvia chuckled softly. When their friend headed out, Natsu quickly pecked Juvia's lips and embraced her once again.

"I'm home."

"Welcome back."

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 **x-x-x-x-x-x _THE END x-x-x-x-x-x-x_**

 _THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING THIS FANFIC! I have so much fun writing this and I'm probably gonna miss this so much! I don't know if I could write another Navia stories again (but maybe one shots will do) since work and studies would consume my time a lot starting next week (and multitasking is my weakness). But I hope I can find inspirations and strong motivations to make another stories about them! For those who read, reviewed, followed and favorited this story, I hope you did enjoy this story! THANK YOU SO MUCH AND I LOVE YOU GUYS!_

 _xoxo_


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